


Hermione Granger and the Mysterious Locket

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-17
Updated: 2013-10-17
Packaged: 2017-12-29 17:09:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 34,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1007937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after the mysterious disappearance of Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger still hasn't given up hope. With the help of Harry and Ginny, Hermione embarks on the mission that will change everything. Danger awaits the trio as they go against a new formation of Death Eaters who are eager to have full control over the wizarding world. It all started with a locket.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hermione Granger and the Mysterious Locket

Two days before her world had been torn apart, Hermione had been happier than she could ever remember being in her entire life. She, Ron and Harry had been exchanging gifts that Christmas morning. Hermione and Harry had stayed overnight at the Burrow, as had become a tradition since they had left Hogwarts. Hermione had bought Ron a vintage muggle camera as a joke. He had gone to visit Hermione's parents with her that summer, and her mother had insisted on showing Ron some photographs of Hermione. Ron had found the concept of the people in the photographs not moving hilarious. After Hermione presented him with the gift, Ron had insisted on taking a picture right then and there.

It had been two years since the final battle on the Hogwarts grounds. Two peaceful, blissful years. Hermione had no idea at the time that this calm would soon come to a disastrous end. The calm before the storm.

Tears stinging her red, bloodshot eyes, Hermione gazed down at the photograph in front of her. A tall freckled red head boy grinned a goofy grin at her from the picture, his arms draped around a black haired boy and a brown bushy-haired girl. The black haired boy had a faded lightening shaped scar on his forehead. He was holding a brand new broom, the Firebolt 720 with the same zany smile as the red haired boy. Harry, Hermione remembered, had been overjoyed with the broom that she and Ron had bought him that Christmas.

Hermione's eyes froze on the brown haired girl in the photograph. Had she really smiled like that? Two days before her world had been torn apart? A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Hermione looked up from the photograph. "Yes?" She replied.

A girl with flaming red hair, similar to the hair of the boy in the photograph, popped her head around the corner. "Am I interrupting something?" she said, with poorly disguised concern. Hermione tried to wipe her eyes quickly, but the redhead's gaze softened even more. Quickly stepping over to Hermione's side, Ginny draped her left arm over Hermione's shoulder. Ginny had become much like her mother, who always made it her personal duty to comfort and take care of others.

It had been tough on Ginny, too. In the space of two years she had lost two brothers. Hermione leaned her head on Ginny's shoulder, thankful for her supportive nature. She would have never got though it all without Harry and Ginny.

The dreaded day, three years ago, had come as a shock to everyone. Harry and Ron, two of the youngest Aurors in the Ministry of Magic, had been called away in an abrupt manner. Ron had barely had the time to say goodbye that morning, pulling on his cloak and kissing her on the cheek. Hermione remembered the sickening feeling in her stomach well as she saw the look on Ron's face. Before she had the chance to stop him, Ron had apparated with a crack. That was the last time she ever saw him.

The Hermione of the present gazed down at the ring on her finger. Ron had proposed to her after Christmas dinner at the Burrow. Despite all the teasing from his brothers, Ron had been very romantic about it. He gave a speech about love and soul mates, which had made Hermione suspect that he had asked for help from his younger sister. Still, it was lovely, and she knew that Ron still meant what he said.

"Harry's making breakfast." Ginny said softly, rubbing Hermione's shoulder gently and bringing her back to the present. Although she and Ron had bought a place of their own, Hermione had become a regular occupant in Harry and Ginny's spare room. She couldn't stand being in her own house and not having Ron there. Still, the room wouldn't be a spare room for much longer.

As Ginny stood up, Hermione took in the shape of the woman that stood before her. Her eyes fell on the graceful baby bump on Ginny's stomach, and her heart sank. Of course, she was over the moon for her best friends, but they had everything that Hermione had wanted with Ron. Ginny and Harry had been married for a year already, with their first child on the way. Not wanting to make her best friend feel guilty for having something that she couldn't have, Hermione tried to swallow her pain, and nodded in response.

The two girls rose from the small single bed they were sitting on, Ginny's hand sliding off Hermione's shoulder. Although it had been five years, Hermione still felt as though she was living life like a zombie, waiting for Ron to return. Most had given up hope, but never Hermione, Harry and the Weasleys. Hermione glanced at the small emerald locket she wore around her neck. The locket that had become her small glimmer of hope since she found it. The locket that inspired her to take Ron's place as an Auror in the Ministry of Magic.

~

Breakfast in the Potter household was quiet that morning. Hermione was far too involved in her own thoughts to notice the looks on Harry and Ginny's faces. Ginny had gone down ahead of Hermione, most likely to warn Harry of Hermione's mood.

Harry had changed a lot on the outside over the years. Of course, he still had messy black hair that he could not control. He had traded his round, rimmed spectacles for rectangular frames, and he was no longer the scrawny little boy of Hermione's childhood. He, like Ron Hermione thought sadly, had built up quite a lot of muscle.

Hermione's mood had been up and down since Ron's disappearance, so the couple were used to being cautious around her. She just felt more down than usual the past few weeks. Hermione frowned and absent-mindedly played with the locket around her neck. Was she starting to lose hope?

The locket had arrived on her doorstep roughly a year after Ron had disappeared. It was January, and the air was still chilly, the mornings still dark. After much denial, Hermione had finally began to accept that she may never see him again. Of course, she was still in mourning. She had spent the whole year crying, waiting on him to turn up at the door in one piece.

Hermione and Ron's apartment was quite small, despite the fact that the couple both had jobs in the Ministry of Magic. They had been saving for their dream home, Hermione recalled sadly.

When she collected her post that crisp January morning, she picked up a sandy brown envelope. There was something about it that made Hermione feel uneasy. The envelope was about the size of an A3 piece of paper, and it was bumpy. Running her hand over the envelope, she had an uneasy feeling. With slight hesitation, Hermione had carried the envelope into the small kitchen and sat the envelope down on the counter in front of her. She never opened mail without doing checks on them first.

"Purcio" she whispered, swiftly swishing her wand at the mysterious mail. The envelope glowed a bright violet for two seconds, before fading back into it's original colour.

Hermione surveyed the envelope carefully. She generally kept to herself, and wasn't used to getting mail, never mind suspicious looking packages. Pursing her lips together, she lifted her wand up to the package once more. "Seira" she whispered again.

The envelope burst open, it's contents spilling out onto the kitchen counter. To Hermione's surprise, an emerald green locket lay before her. The accompanying note had been brief, but Hermione froze as she saw the handwriting.

It couldn't be.

The handwriting on the envelope was different to the one on the note. In Ron's untidy scroll, the letter read:

H,

don't open it until you find me.

Love,

R

Words couldn't describe how Hermione felt when she saw it. She got that uneasy feeling in her stomach again. She felt nauseous, scared, excited. In fact, she felt so many emotions run through her at once that she had no idea how to react. Hermione Granger, the brightest student in her own year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had no idea what this note meant. She had run her hand over the handwriting on the note, a painful surge of sadness running through her.

To this day, Hermione could never work out the cryptic words on the note. She just knew that it was written for Ron, and that it was clearly important. She had searched every book she could find on mysterious lockets, but sadly to no avail. She glanced down at the locket that she now took everywhere with her, wondering if Ron was still alive, still waiting for her to find him.

Since she received the note, she had left the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and joined Harry as an Auror. She realised she would never find Ron if she wasn't in the middle of the action. As head of the department, Reisin Hornrock had been skeptical at first. After some consideration, however, Hornrock had gladly accepted her transfer. Hermione had a feeling that the acceptance had something to do with her role in the defeat of Lord Voldemort, and perhaps a little influence on Harry's part.

Working with the famous Harry Potter had been strange at first. Hermione recalled their first mission together, where they were sent to capture a cult group of wizards who were trying to avenge their master, Lord Voldemort. This had become quite a standard practice for the Aurors after the Battle of Hogwarts. The Ministry had to take on a multitude of Aurors to keep up with the amount of work from former Death Eaters who had come out of hiding since then.

In all the years she had known him, Hermione had never seen Harry acting so professional. It was strange to see the boy she often found herself lecturing on rule breaking in her youth strictly adhering to Ministry guidelines. Of course, there was still the odd time where Harry had to improvise, but Hornrock tended to look the other way on these occasions, usually because Harry had turned out to be right. Outside of work, though, Harry was still the same hot headed, risk taking boy he always was, and Hermione loved him for that.

Harry seemed to be the only person besides her that really believed Ron was still alive as much as she had, perhaps partly due to the locket, and partly due to the fact that Harry, like Hermione, couldn't bare to admit to themselves that he may be gone for good. Since she had received the locket, Ron's family had also regained a small bit of hope.

"Time to go, Hermione." Harry's voice brought Hermione back to the present, back to the breakfast table in the Potter household.

"Is it eight thirty already?" Hermione checked her watch. How long had she been daydreaming for? Wand in hand, she rose from the breakfast table, leaving her untouched food sitting on the plate. Ginny looked down at the plate with a frown, then gazed at Hermione with a worried expression on her face.

After pulling on her cloak and waiting for Harry to do the same, Hermione hugged Ginny goodbye.

"Come back after work," Ginny smiled kindly. "We're having guests over."

Hermione nodded, then dissaparated with a crack. She appeared in a bleak, dark, stoney room, with no windows and no visible doors. The room was empty apart from a pedestal that sat in the middle of the floor.

"Lumos" Hermione muttered, and the tip of her wand lit up like a torch in advance. Harry appeared with a crack right beside her two seconds later.

There was only one place that people could apparate into the Ministry, and only Aurors were allowed to do so. Following Harry's lead, Hermione placed her wand on the pedestal. The voice of Reisin Hornrock echoed in the room. "State your names."

"Hermione Granger, sir." Hermione said robotically. It had become almost automatic. They went through these security checks each day. Still, Hermione thought, the Ministry could never be too careful. Hornrock had been right to demand heightened security after Ron's disappearance.

"Harry Potter" Harry responded in the same monotone voice as Hermione's.

"Very well." Hornrock's voice spoke again. The chamber started to rumble as the wall behind the pedestal lifted, revealing a long, pale grey corridor behind it. After lifting their wands again, Harry and Hermione followed on through the passage.

The passage had many doors, colour coded for each department. Their office was behind a pale red door near the end of the corridor. As they entered the small, cramped office that Harry and Hermione shared with a few of the other Aurors, Hornrock's scowling face greeted them upon entry.

Hornrock was a strange looking man, Hermione had been rather taken aback when she had first met him. It had been her first day as an Auror, when she met the lanky man with long grey hair and rugged facial features. His square shaped jaw was covered by roughly two inches of grey hair, and a shorter grey moustache lay on top of his lip.

"Potter, Granger." Hornrock nodded. "Meeting in my office, right now. No time to lose." Hornrock looked serious. Following the footsteps of their boss, Harry and Hermione exchanged nervous glances at one another.

The door to Reisin Hornrock's office lay a few doors from Hermione and Harry's. Inserting his wand into a small, circle shaped opening in the door, Hornrock's office opened with a click. "Come in." Hornrock said gruffly, as he held the door open

Upon Hornrock's orders, Hermione and Harry walked in to the square shaped office. There were more than thirty file cabinets as well as a multitude of mysterious looking safes in their boss's office. Hermione had been impressed that Harry had never once asked about any of the contents. Outside of work, Harry usually let curiosity get the best of him.

"The Hat of Anala is missing." Hornrock said grimly. This meant nothing to Hermione, but one look at Harry's shocked and panicked expression told her that this wasn't a pleasant announcement, to say the least.

"How?" The sound had barely escaped Harry's mouth. He seemed to be temporarily paralysed.

"My suspicions say The Cult of Angau." He replied shortly. "We've been watching them closely, and they've showed great interest in the hat."

This time Hermione froze. If the Cult of Angau were involved, this was some heavy duty work. Hermione remembered the last time she and Harry had dealt with them. It had taken twelve Aurors to raid their headquarters, which had turned out to be their leader Rex Bowstern's Manor, which was located near an abandoned sewage plant. Although the plant had been empty for many years, the stale smell of sewage still wafted through the area.

Hermione remembered the smell vividly. Last time they had entered the dreary looking manor, they had barely made it out alive. They had managed to rescue a handful of muggle borns from the dungeons that lay below the grounds of the manor. Hermione remembered, with a jolt of nausea, the numerous dead bodies of their colleagues and unknown witches and wizards, that Hermione had supposed were also muggle born.

Whatever this mission was, it wasn't going to be easy.

"Sir?" Hermione interjected, before Hornrock had the chance to go on. "What is the Hat of Anala?"

"The Hat of Anala is a hat that was made from the skin of a unicorn, Granger." Hornrock stated. Hermione shuddered, dread filling her up on the inside. "Dark magic. No one knows where it came from, or who made it, but in the wrong hands it is a very dangerous tool."

"What does it do?" Hermione asked, although part of her didn't want to know the answer. If a unicorn had been slain to make the hat, and she didn't doubt that this was the case, this hat was bad news.

"Enhances the power of the wearer." Harry replied instead. "Imagine limitless power. Imagine being able to cast an unforgivable curse on anyone, from anywhere in the entire world. Research has shown that it has been around for at least a century, but the Ministry only got wind of it when Ron and I..."

Harry trailed off. An awkward silence followed. If Hornrock had noticed the pain in both his employee's eyes, he didn't let on.

"Potter, Granger - only you two can know about this. This mission is top secret," Hornrock continued the conversation sternly, throwing an almost accusing look at them both.

"Yes sir." Harry and Hermione replied in unison.

There was a pause, then a look of realisation became visible on Harry's face. "Didn't the Cult of Angau flee their headquarters?" the Auror asked his boss.

Hornrock nodded grimly. Hermione's heart sank.

"How much time do we have to find their new Headquarters?" Hermione asked apprehensively.

"Never miss a trick, do you Granger?" Hornrock said in an odd voice that sounded almost like pride. "The hat can only be worn if you've taken the Anala potion. As far as our research has shown us, this potion is complicated and can take around two months to brew." There was a pause while Hermione and Harry tried to digest the information, then Hornrock continued. "I don't want to take the risk. I think a month would be best, at the latest."

As the lanky wizard handed them the book, he nodded his head towards the door. "Well I suggest you get researching. You need to be prepared for any hex or spell that may be thrown at you. You need to be prepared to face the protection around the new headquarters, keeping in mind you still need to find it. This won't be a light workload. "

With these final words, Hornrock led Harry and Hermione out of his office with grim, worried expressions on their faces.

~

It was becoming dark outside, and Hermione and Harry still weren't making progress.

"Oh, this is useless!" Hermione wailed, tossing 'Unicorn Recipes' on top of the pile on the table. She had been through the book twice to make sure that she wasn't missing anything. She found nothing relating to a hat, or indeed Unicorn skin.

They had been in the Ministry's huge, dimly lit library for hours, and hadn't found anything on the Cult of Angau at all. The truth was, they didn't even know where to start. It was a scene reminiscent of their time at Hogwarts. Of course, there was something missing.

Harry was looking through a pile of maps, his scarred forehead creased in frustration. At the sound of her voice, he had glanced up, then returned his gaze to the map he was reading, pushing one in front of Hermione.

Hermione surveyed the map in front of her. Her attention drew immediately to a small muggle town just south of where Bowstern's Manor had been. There was something about the layout that bothered her. In the centre of the town there was a church whose name sounded oddly familiar to her.

"Dirkstone Abbey.." Hermione read aloud. Searching her brain, she knew there was something that was bothering her. She just couldn't figure out what or why.

"Have you found something?" Harry asked, hopeful.

"Probably not." Hermione said with a sigh. "It's just... Dirkstone Abbey. It sounds familiar."

The clock on the wall behind Harry was ticking away. Harry glanced around at it and frowned. "Eleven o'clock. Ginny's going to kill me."

"Maybe just hex." Hermione attempted a half hearted joke, then looked serious again. "I think we should call it a night, Harry.

Harry nodded in agreement, gathering up the maps he had in his hands. Hermione grabbed the map she had been studying, vowing to herself to do a little more research on Dirkstone Abbey when she returned tomorrow. They couldn't just crash a Muggle church without a good reason, she reminded herself. A hunch just wasn't good enough.

They were walking back through the Ministry corridor leading to the chamber where they had apparated from earlier that day, when a surge of realisation hit Hermione. She froze, and looked at Harry."Didn't Ginny say you had guests over?"

Harry nodded grimly. "Not only will I be hexed by Ginny, Mrs Weasley will be there to help her as well."

Hermione suppressed a snicker. Ginny was usually understanding about Harry's late nights - still, the vision of the two redheads chasing Harry around the small two bedroom apartment amused her.

Hornrock was waiting for them in front of the chamber. His face had a deadpan expression that Hermione couldn't quite read. Had he been waiting on them? How long had he been waiting for?

"Granger, Potter." Hornrock nodded curtly as Hermione and Harry reached him. "How did you get on?"

Reading the bleak expressions on their faces, Hornrock's shoulders fell slightly with a sigh.

"Sorry sir." Hermione replied, bowing her head slightly. "There's not much to go on, we're trying our hardest."

Hornrock nodded, glancing around the corridor to check it was empty. Hermione noticed that he was holding a rather sinister looking book entitled 'The Price of Blood'and shuddered. Whatever Hornrock had to say to them, Hermione hoped that it wasn't to do with the contents of the book. Of course, her hope was proven to be short lived.

"I've been doing a bit of research of my own." Offered Hornrock, holding out the eerie book in front of Hermione. "Page 97."

Hermione opened up the book, and both she and Harry peered almost hesitantly at the page. A picture of a glorious looking pointed white wizard's hat lay on page 97, with a small paragraph below it.

 _Very little has been documented about the Ancient Hat of the Anara tribe since its disappearance from the Tomb of Dagda in the early 1900's. The hat allows the wearer unspeakable powers, and can only be activated by the drinker of the potion of Anala by the light of a full moon_.

This was it. They knew exactly when the potion was going to be used. Horror struck, Hermione looked up from the book and looked at her boss.

"The full moon falls on the second week of March" Hornrock told them, surveying the expressions on their faces. "Now, not to worry. Now we know exactly how much time we have. Still, I suggest getting this whole business over with sooner rather than later."

Hermione and Harry both nodded, but Hermione had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and judging by Harry's pained expression, she wasn't the only one. At least when they had nothing to go on, the reality of the hat being used had seemed distant. This had just brought everything crashing forward. They had to deal with this as soon as they could.

Saying their goodbyes to Hornrock, Hermione and Harry once again entered the chamber to make their journeys home.

"Well, we can carry on our research in the morning." Hermione said to Harry, squeezing his shoulder gently. "Give my love to Ginny."

"Wait, aren't you coming with me?" Harry asked, perplexed. Hermione paused to look at her friend's face and frowned.

"Harry, it's nearly twelve o'clock at night. I don't think Ginny had counted on us working for so long when she invited me back."

Harry chuckled, pulling Hermione to his side. "Knowing my mother in law, she'll be sitting up waiting for us. Come on!" He insisted. Without another word, Harry disappeared with a crack, pulling Hermione with him.

They appeared once again in Harry and Ginny's dark hallway. It was pitch black save for a light where the living room was. Hermione strained her ears a little. She could hear two female voices coming from the living room. They were still awake after all.

"Harry? Is that you?" Came Ginny's worried tone from the living room. Shrugging of his cloak, Harry motioned for Hermione to follow him.

"Oh hello, Harry dear!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed with a smile, scooping her son in law into a tight embrace. Spotting Hermione, her smile widened. The plump woman pulled Hermione into the same embrace.

"Hermione! I wasn't expecting to see you here, dear. Ginny mentioned you had been invited back, but we weren't sure if it would be to late for you."

Hermione could smell the firewhiskey on Mrs Weasleys breath. This had been quite common since Ron's disappearance. The admirable woman had held it together well through Fred's death, she and Arthur being the pillars that held the family up. She hadn't counted on losing a second child so suddenly, and Ron's disappearance had taken it's toll on her. Hermione took in the appearance of the small woman in front of her. Had she been eating properly? She knew that Molly Weasley was usually to busy making sure everyone else was okay, that she sometimes neglected her on well being. The loss of her children had weakened her.

She remembered sadly the first time she had ever saw Molly Weasley fall apart. Usually a strong confident woman, life had dealt her a poor hand. It was about a month after Ron had gone that she broke down into heart wrenching sobs, with only Ginny and Hermione in the room. She had confessed that she felt she had failed as a mother, and that Fred and Ron would still be there if she had been paying more attention to them. It took a good few hours for Hermione and Ginny to calm the poor woman down, explaining that she was in no way to blame for the loss of her sons.

Feeling a surge of empathy for Ron's mother, Hermione threw her arms around her.

Hermione, Harry and Mrs Weasley sat up late into the night discussing recent developments in their lives. Harry and Hermione were never allowed to discuss work, of course, but they listened intently as Mrs Weasley told them about how Bill and Fleur were looking for a new cottage, and how Fred, the son of Angelina and George, had started to talk, although Mrs Weasley refused to utter his first word. Apparently it had been something rude. Hermione suppressed a laugh as she was telling the story. How could it be anything else? "I just hope my future grandchild doesn't pick up this behaviour!" She shot a sharp glance at Ginny's stomach.

Stifling a yawn, Hermione rose from the dining table that they had all placed themselves at. It was two o'clock already, and she and Harry had a lot of work to get on with the next day. Mrs Weasley stumbled up from her chair, squeezing Hermione again. "It was great to see you dear!" the woman grinned.

"You too, Mrs Weasley." Hermione forced a polite smile. She could barely hold her eyes open, never mind apparate out of the house. Ginny seemed to notice this, and rose from the table as well.

"I'll walk you to your room." Ginny smiled kindly. "No, you're far to tired to go home." She shot down the protest that was forming on Hermione's lips. "Come on."

Hermione followed wordlessly, too tired to argue. After saying her good nights, she was left in the darkness to her thoughts. Her head swimming with the events of the day, Hermione felt her eyes get heavier.

She was looking at small, dark room that was completely empty, apart from the figures of two men. The first one had his wand in his hand, holding it at the other. The second man was standing against the wall, his wrists and ankles held in cuffs. He seemed weak, yet still struggled to get free. Neither of the two seemed to notice Hermione's presence.

The two men came more into focus, and Hermione's heart skipped a beat. The pale freckled face, red haired man looked completely different to when Hermione had last saw him, but she could never mistake him for anyone else. The rags he was wearing barely covered his flesh. The top half sat from the top of his chest to just above his stomach, the rips showing his clearly weakened muscles. Red stubble covered his chin and upper lip.

'Now, let's try this again." the other man began, walking towards his target. He was a cloaked, hooded figure that Hermione could not make out. "Where is the horn?"

"No matter how many times you ask, I won't help you." the prisoner said weakly.

Hermione's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach as the hooded figure screeched "CRUCIO!", causing the captive man to let out a painful sounding yelp and to shake violently. Hermione let out a whimper, but neither man seemed to notice. She couldn't find her voice or feet. Somehow she knew she wasn't really there with them.

"No matter, Weasley." The hooded figure drawled, eyeing the man in front of him. "I'll get you soon enough. Although, perhaps one more for good measure."

The captured man, panting with pain, put on a brave face as the hooded man raised his wand once more. "CRUC-"

"-NO!" Screamed Hermione, shooting up from the bed as the covers dropped from her. Hermione panted. She had grasping tightly onto the locket. "Ron..." she breathed weakly, tears streaming from her eyes.

~

As she was gasping for breath, Hermione choked out quiet sobs. Wiping her eyes and willing herself to get a grip, she steadied her breathing.

BANG. Hermione shot upright as her door slammed open, and saw a blurry vision of a wand being pointed directly at her. Frozen in fear, she choked out another sob.

The figure stood frozen, as another figure came running straight into the room, almost knocking the other to the side. Ginny. Hermione steadied her breathing. Had she not been in such a frenzied state, she would have found the sight of Harry standing at the door dumbstruck quite amusing.

As Hermione told her two friends about the dream, and how she had been in the room but had somehow been disconnected. She described in remarkable detail the dark, dingy stone cellar she had been looking upon, but when it came to describing the scene that had taken place, she only managed to choke out " _Ron_ " as she launched into heart wrenching sobs. She felt a strong arm immediately around her shoulder, and a soft female hand stroking her arm softly.

"Shh..." Ginny crooned. "It's okay, you don't need to tell us about it if you don't want to." However, Ginny's face looked terrified.

Hermione looked at Harry. His face had flushed, and he was looking at Hermione like he had seen a ghost. He wasn't looking at her face, though. His eyes were directly on the locket around her neck.

"Hermione.." Harry hesitated, and Hermione could tell that he was facing an internal struggle. She knew why, too. Harry had been subject to these types of dreams before, and they had turned out to be visions from the point of view of Lord Voldemort.

Hermione shook her head, trying to process everything. It was clearly a dungeon of some sort. The toturer had been hard to make out. _Ron's_ torturer, Hermione thought furiously. How long had he been suffering like that? While Hermione was sitting at home doing nothing. He looked worn out, barely alive. His skin had lost any colour it had previously, and his freckles had faded. The bags under his eyes were huge. Hermione covered her face with her hands as tears continued to escape.

They had all sat in the room in silence for a while. Harry had the look of someone who was trying to make a decision. Hermione was struggling herself. She was the one who had stormed out of Mrs Trelawney's Divination classroom, claiming that she didn't believe in such nonsense. Yet, here she was, ready to gather her wand and her cloak and march into the night looking for a dungeon she had no proof existed and had no clue the whereabouts of. Was she going mad?

"I'm sorry." Harry seemed to have worked up the nerve to say the thing that was on everyone's minds.'I really am so sorry, but we _need_ to know." He finished quickly with the manner of someone pulling off a plaster.

"H... He..." Hermione attempted to continue her story, but to her surprise Harry held his hand up to her with a soft expression on his face.

"No" He sighed. "You're far too worked up."

Ginny shot him a glare.

" _No_ , not that I blame you." He was speaking quickly again. "What I mean is, well..."

To the surprise of the two women, he stopped talking and instead stood up, exiting the room. Hermione and Ginny exchanged dumbfounded looks as they heard him cluttering about in the next room, their bedroom, then the unmistakable clicking of a safe . Then Ginny's face changed to a look of understanding, as she let out a soft "oh..." As if on que, Harry re-entred with what looked like a shallow stone basin in his hands. Finally, she understood. The Pensieve. The Pensieve had been left to Harry after the death of Serverus Snape.

They had much depended on the use of the Pensieve throughout their high school years. Hermione remembered grimly the recount that they had witnessed through the Pensieve just after the death of their former Potions master.

The strange, silvery glass like substance shone in the darkness of the room. She looked at Harry's apprehensive expression, then she nodded. Harry instantly looked a little more at ease.

"It'll help with the shock, too." Harry said, placing it on the bedside table that sat at the side of the bed Hermione and Ginny were sitting on.

Hermione pulled her wand out from underneath her pillow, instantly placing it to her head and pulling out a strange, silvery liquid, transferring it to the basin. Already, she felt a little lighter. Of course, she still pressed her palms to her ears and shut her eyes tight as Harry and Ginny peered into the silvery substance.

Within minutes, a shriek of anguish penetrated the block she had made with her hands. She opened her eyes to see Ginny sobbing, and Harry holding her tightly, rage and fear both flashing in his eyes at the same time.

Hermione felt a stab of guilt. Before she could stammer an apology, however, Ginny launched herself at Hermione, throwing her arms around her with choking sobs. Harry looked at the pair solemnly.

There was an even longer silence this time, before either of the trio made any distinct movement. Harry, yet again, was the one to break the silence.

"I need to leave." Harry said decidedly, looking into his wife's eyes.

Ginny just nodded shakily, but gripped onto Harry's hand with intensity. She seemed to have temporarily lost the will to speak. "I-... I..."

"Can't come." Harry interrupted without hesitation. "I don't want to put _any_ of you in danger." His eyes were on the bump on Ginny's stomach, but somehow Hermione knew the voice was directed at all three of them.

"No!" Hermione yelled shrilly at Harry, jumping up from the spot she was sitting. "No you don't, Harry Potter! You don't get to stand there, and t- tell me that I h- have to stand by while Ron, my *fiancee*, suffers!"

"He's my _brother_..." Ginny said weakly, although Hermione knew that logic had already kicked in as far as what use Ginny would be in her position, never mind the risk.

"And this," Harry said, placing his palms on Ginny's round stomach as Ginny closed her eyes in resignation, "is our child. I can't risk _either_ of you."

Hermione stepped next to Harry, determination on her face. "If you try to stop me, so help me Harry, I will hex you into the next millennium." Hermione threatened the protest that Harry was clearly about to make. "Where are we going?" She asked, her eyes narrowed, almost piercing through Harry's.

Harry faltered. Clearly, he hadn't even thought of a plan. He, as Hermione had been, was ready to storm the streets in the middle of a muggle village and set off to an unknown location. Logic had kicked in since then for Hermione, though, and she placed her hand on Harry's frozen shoulder. "We need to sit down. We need a plan, Harry." She said in an almost begging manner.

Harry looked as though he was struggling again, but he stood still, processing the information. "Give me the horn." He repeated the words of Ron's attacker, sending rage down Hermione's spine. "What horn?"

Wrinkling her forehead, Hermione let out a frustrated groan. She just wanted to apparate to Ron's side, to free him from the horrible ordeal, and to hold him in her arms and make all the physical and emotional pain go away. Instead, she settled for punching the wall, sending out a shockwave of pain through her nerves as it connected with a loud _crunch_. Harry and Ginny hadn't even moved to stop her. She choked out a wail, collapsing back onto the bed.

"The Ministry archives." Ginny said simply. "We need to search for records of this horn."

Without hesitating, Hermione gathered her belongings. It was five o'clock in the morning, but she was no longer tired. The adrenaline was flowing through her, as she could see it was through Harry.

Ginny, however, had lain down on the bed weakly. Harry pulled the covers that Hermione had thrown to the side earlier over his wife and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, then on the covers where her stomach was.

"I love you." Ginny whispered, holding out her hand and grasping Harry's with it.

"I love you too." Harry said seriously, looking into Ginny's eyes. He then fixed his gaze on Hermione. "Let's go back to the Ministry."

~

By the time Harry and Hermione had reached the archive room in the Ministry, it had reached six o'clock in the morning. Since Hornrock wasn't there to let them in through the apparition chamber, they'd had to apparate to Diagon Alley and go in through the telephone booth.

"Two hours and we'd have been in here anyway." Harry said, probably more for the purpose of conversation than anything else. They had both barely spoken since leaving Harry's house, both of their thoughts elsewhere.

The Archives were stacked on long, high oak shelves that stood across the brilliantly lit room diagonally. The room itself was remarkable. The red patterned wall complimented the dark wooden flooring beautifully.

"Where do we start?" Harry asked, staring down one of the long rows.

"Well, there must be an index somewhere." Hermione said, pondering. "Let's see..." she muttered as she turned to look for some sort of reference desk.

"What's this?" She heard Harry's voice behind her.

"Honestly, Harry, we don't have time t-" Hermione whirred around to face Harry, then stopped speaking as her eyes fell on what Harry was asking about. A small indent on the wall, that appeared to glow a dim red. A small sign above read "Enquiries here."

"What does that mean? Are we supposed to talk to it?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"No," Hermione said, pointing her wand to the alcove. "There's a spell. The library in Hogsmeade had the same system. _Appendium_!"

Upon the word, a glowing stream of light blue released itself from Hermione's wand, but instead of going to the thing she was pointing at, it flew into the air gracefully. It paused for a few seconds before separating into four more pieces of the same glowing stream, all going towards different targets throughout the archives. Hermione gently brought down her wand, placing it in the alcove. To Harry's astonishment, the blue light stayed where it was as Hermione let go of her wand.

"I've sent it to look for any records of magical horns. There only seems to be four of them" She said, counting the streams. "I'll follow these two." She pointed to the two that lay behind a couple of rows from each other.

Harry nodded, and left to follow the other two, one of which was in the middle of the room, and the second of which was just a little further back, in the same row.

The first blue stream led Hermione to a file entitled "Horn of Herakles / Horn of Plenty, and the second to a box that was full of files, simply entitled "Red Horn." Willing to try anything, she brought both the box and the single file back to the front of the room with her, where Harry stood waiting.

"I'm not sure if we'll be able to place anything together with this." Hermione said loudly so that Harry could hear her as she approached him. "But it's all we have to go by right now."

Harry held up the two items he had collected; a book entitled "Enchanted Valve Horns" and a file entitled "Documented Uses of Unicorn Horns. "

A little later on, Hermione and Harry were once again sitting in the Ministry library, where Hermione had also found a book entitled "Magic Mythology: Cursed Objects". Sifting through the documents in Red Horn, she'd immediately decided they were no use. It was Siouan folklore. She pulled the "Horn of Herakles / Horn of Plenty" file in front of her.

She heard a loud sigh next to her, Harry had put both of his findings from the archives to the side. Clearly he was getting nowhere, and the Horn of Plenty didn't return any results either. It was like they had taken one step closer to Ron, and two steps further away.

"Are we going mad?" Hermione asked Harry in a small voice. He looked over to her. "I mean, here we are, searching through any records the ministry have of horns, anything at all, but all we have to go by is a dream that we have no proof means anything."

There was a slight silence, then Harry shook his head. "If there's a chance that this leads us to Ron - any chance at all, we need to take it." He sighed. "I just hope we're not too late."

Hermione stared intensely at Harry, frozen. Her heart had sunk to the pit of her stomach again. What if they were too late? If what she had seen was to be believed, Ron was undergoing some painful torture, yet they were sitting sifting through a bunch of books and files. She just wanted to go straight to him. To apparate to his side. Of course, that was impossible. She would be splinched if she even attempted it.

By the time it reached five o'clock, they had pretty much exhausted any information they had, and they weren't any further forward. Harry groaned in frustration, throwing his arms on the table and his head against them.

"This isn't working!" Hermione said grimly, turning to Harry. "We need to try something else."

"Like what?" Asked Harry, raising his head from his arms.

"I don't know, just... anything. I just w-want t-to..." Hermione burst into tears again, covering her face with her hands. "W-we need to f-find him" she finished, sniffling. She shakily removed the locket from her neck, gazing at it with intensity.

Harry's frustrated gaze softened, as he reached out for Hermione's hand, taking the locket from her and placing it on the table next to them so he could grasp onto her hand to comfort her. "We will. We'll find him" Harry said to her, determined. "Trust me, I want to find him as much as you do. It's hard to sit here while we know he's out there, but we need to find some sort of lead."

Feeling a little lighter, probably due to the fact that she wasn't alone in the way she was feeling, Hermione let out a small tearful snicker. "When did you get so clever?"

When they were at Hogwarts, Harry had always marched into things head first without giving it a second thought, yet here he was basically telling Hermione not to do anything rash.

"Well, I _am_ the smart one!" Harry grinned. Hermione giggled, nudging Harry in the ribs with her elbow.

A stab of guilt hit her. Ron was out there suffering, and here she was laughing and joking instead of rescuing him. She shook her head and stood up. "I'm going to go to the Auror offices, there may be some sort of clue in the archives there." The archives in their offices were smaller, but there was access to more restricted information there. Perhaps she would have more luck in there.

"I'll be here." Harry replied, his eyes now fixed on the maps again.

Without another word, Hermione lifted her wand, and exited the massive library into the corridors. The Auror offices were on the second level, and she was presently on the sixth. Many official looking witches and wizards strode past her in their cloaks and robes, either on their way home or still hard at work. No one seemed to notice the pained expression on Hermione's face as she stood in the lift to the second level, nor as she skulked down the corridors that led to her office, and the Auror archives.

Before she could get to the archives, however, she spotted a small, young witch in the corner of her eye. The girl had short blonde hair, and was dressed in bright green robes today. Alyssa Smith was a girl who had recently been taken on as an Auror-in-training. As friendly as she was, Hermione sighed as she spotted her walking towards her, waving frantically like she was an old friend that hadn't seen Hermione in years.

"I haven't seen you all day!" Alyssa shrieked at Hermione, stumbling to a halt in front of her and almost knocking her down.

Swiftly regaining her balance, Hermione politely and weakly returned her smile. "Oh, hi Alyssa, listen, I-"

"I've been training with Flynn Carmyle all day." the young witch rolled her eyes with the air of someone who had endured the most boring lesson on the planet. "Didn't even get to do any field work, just been searching through musty old books. "

Hermione nodded along politely. Usually the thought of someone complaining about books and their usefulness would face a long, cold lecture from her, but she had much more important and urgent matters on her mind.

"Ah, Granger." Hermione frowned as the conversation had been interrupted by her boss. Hornback strode to the area the two witches stood quickly, clearly with a purpose. This was the last thing she needed. However, she was a little grateful when the next thing Hornrock said was "can I speak to you in private?" motioning towards the offices with his head.

Saying goodbye to Alyssa, Hermione followed her boss through the set of doors that took her to the Auror offices. As the doors closed behind her, she caught one last glimpse of Alyssa, who was already running towards her next victim with the intent on telling them more pointless stories Hermione had no doubt.

The archives lay at the end of the offices, next to the apparition chamber. Hornrock, however, was marching towards his office.

"Erm, sir..." Hermione hesitated as she followed her boss down the corridor.

"Wait here, Granger." Hornrock interrupted her. "I'll be a few minutes, I just need to dismiss a few colleagues from my office. I have something to show you. I believe it'll help you and Potter with your case."

Hermione froze, she had forgotten all about the case. Of course, she didn't dare say this to Hornrock. He didn't seem to notice the guilt etched on her face, though.

"I just need to go grab something quickly from my office, sir" Hermione told a small white lie. Hornrock would have gone mental if he had found out that she and Harry had spent the entire day concentrating on something other than work.

Hornrock nodded gruffly, then turned into his office. "Sorry for the wait, Mr Mcready" she heard him say as the office door shut behind him.

Hermione strode quickly towards the archives. If she was quick enough, she would be in and out in time before Hornrock came back to fetch her.

The Auror archives lay next to where the apparition chamber was. As she quickly glanced around the small room that she had hastened into, she searched for the letter "H" in the letters that sat on the sides of the small, metal shelves. Finally spotting it, she sped towards it, searching the contents.

"Hands of Velor, He Who Must Not Be Named, Horcruxes..." she shuddered at the Horcrux file, before grabbing the one next to it entitled "Horns", which had three different binders with the titles "The Five Black Horns, Roman Cornucopia and the Magic Drinking Horn of King Arthur". Hermione pulled all three quickly, concealing them in the large pocket underneath her robes.

To Hermione's surprise, Hornrock was waiting in the corridor next to the archives for her. Her heart sunk. If there was one thing Hermione couldn't stand, it was being in trouble. Before she could open her mouth to apologise profusely, Hornrock began to speak.

"Where's the locket, Granger?"

Hermione's apologetic gaze changed to a look of utter bewilderment.

"L- locket, sir?" There was something strange about the way Hornrock's eyes were piercing Hermione's.

"The locket, girl. The one you usually have around your neck." Hornrock said impatiently.

"I- it's... Harry has it, sir. Is everythi-"

Hermione froze. Hornrock's wand was pointed right at her. "Don't lie to me, Granger." he growled menacingly.

Before she got a chance to process what was going on, a strong pair of arms grabbed her from behind, pulling into the apparation chamber as she was pulled into darkness with a loud _crack_

~

It was dark. Hermione felt herself drowsily fall into the familiar arms that had pulled her from the Ministry, and she felt an intense wave of relief. This soon evaporated, however, as a familiar dark dingy room materialised in front her, yet she was again unattached from the scene.

Ron was alone this time. She wanted so much to run out and grab onto him, to stroke his hair, to be able to touch him, feel him, _kiss_ him. Most of all, she wanted to take him away from that horrible place. Yet she couldn't move, couldn't speak. All she could do was watch helplessly as the shell of the man she loved stood before her, shackled and barely conscious, clearly in agony.

The moon shone unceremoniously through the small barred window that sat to Ron's left. She wasn't sure if it was the position of the moon, or the angle of which she had witnessed the scene last time, but she hadn't noticed a window before. If only she could get a glimpse of the outside, so that she could pinpoint the whereabouts of Ron's horrendous prison.

She could see every inch of him this time, not just a strained vision. The moon highlighted his entire frame as the rags he wore barely covered his flesh. Still tall, still built, yet his muscles were definitely smaller, and his skin a bit looser. His eyes were darker and heavier than last time, and his hair a little longer and more tugged.

Hermione felt every hair on her body stand on end as the stone door in front of Ron opened with a _click_ , and Hermione saw instant awareness etched across Ron's broken features. He squeezed his eyes tight as if in pain, before he opened them to watch as the same hooded figure from last time entered, wand at the ready.

Hermione's heart halted for a few seconds. The figure was much, much clearer this time. The voice that spoke was different from last time, too.

"Looks like your little girlfriend has managed to escape this time, Weasley." Hornrock's voice growled from the cloak.

Ron suddenly looked more alert than he had done either time that Hermione had seen him. His eyes immediately darted towards Hornrock, as he chocked out "D-don't you t-touch her."

Hornrock still had his wand held towards Ron, walking slowly closer to him. "Oh, but don't you want to see her? The shackles on the wall to your right look rather lonely, don't they?"

" _NO_!" Ron bellowed, clearly with all the strength he could muster, weakly pulling on the shackles that held him. "H-hurt her, and it'll be the last thing you do." He spoke with venom this time, his eyes piercing Hornrock's.

Hornrock let out a ghastly laugh before he took one step closer to Ron. "Trust me, Weasley, when we get her - and we will, she will suffer for being... _uncooperative_." Ron flinched again as though in agony. "Maybe I'll ask our master if I can keep her." An evil, filthy, disgusting grin appeared on Hornrock's face, and Hermione felt fear prickle the back of her neck.

This seemed to be to much for Ron, as he snarled loudly, trying to force his entire body out of the cuffs that held him.

"Your strength is admirable, boy." He was right in front of Ron now, his wand rested on Ron's chest menacingly. "You'd better hope your girl has just as much. My master is angry, Weasley." He paused, let out a small, sinister chuckle then said "No, _livid_. Master is _livid_. He hadn't planned on her getting away."

Ron just stared at him icily, almost as though he was trying to suck the life out of him with his eyes.

"No matter. Are you ready to tell me where that horn is yet?"

Ron shook his head, clenching is eyes clearly preparing for the pain he was about to endure. Hermione had been relieved for a second before she saw Hornrock take one step closer, so that his face was almost touching Ron's, and his wand dug painfully on his almost bared chest.

"What about the locket?" Hornrock asked.

By the panic struck expression on Ron's face, he hadn't been expecting this. His face quickly straightened, but it was too late. Hornrock had clearly noticed the recognition etched on Ron's face, as Hornrock's lips slowly curved into an accomplished grin.

"L-locket?" Ron asked, shakily, though Hermione could tell he was trying to keep his voice steady. Trying not to give anything away.

Hornrock took a step back, holding his wand towards Ron. " _CRUCIO_!"

Ron groaned weakly with intense displeasure, his face screwed as though trying to fight away the pain. He writhed and twisted as the spell worked his way throughout his body, clearly causing him a vast amount of agonising pain.

"You know, Weasley, I could stand here all day and be the cause of your pain, you know how much pleasure it gives me. I, however, have a Mudblood to capture."

With each passing moment, she could see Ron struggling with himself. She wanted to shout at him, to tell him not to give in, not for her... But she couldn't. She had no presence in the room. She could feel her body, but couldn't see herself. It was a strange sensation.

Things started to get lighter as Ron faded from her. She attempted to clutch for him as a bright sky materialised in front of her. Dizzy and disorientated, she shot up gasping for breath. Then she was frozen in fear as she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hermione." She sighed in relief as the familiar voice had said her name.

"Oh, _Harry_!" She exclaimed tearfully, shakily scooping her arms around his neck and pulling him in to a comforting hug - more for her sake than his.

He squeezed her back before letting go and gazing at her intensely. "Hermione," he repeated, "did you see him again?"

Harry's fear was confirmed as Hermione squeaked out a sob, then, while staring at her feet, she proceeded to tell him of the horrendous scene she had witnessed. Harry listened intently until she was finished.

"Well, that rules out Polyjuice Potion, or the Imperius Curse." said Harry, absent mindedly tapping his wand on his forehead. Hermione gazed at Harry, trying to process the words. Trying to force a kick start to her brain.

"I didn't want to believe it was actually Hornrock that attacked you in the Ministry." Harry explained. "While you were out, I'd been trying to place together every scenario possible."

The memory, temporarily pushed away by the distraction of Ron, now flew to the front of her mind, and she looked directly at Harry. It was her turn to ask questions now.

"Wh- what happened?" Hermione stuttered weakly.

"After you had gone, the locket had started shaking, and I couldn't get it to stop. I came to find you to ask if it was normal." Harry explained, glancing at the locket that Hermione had just noticed was clutched in her hands. "Then I heard Hornrock, so I hid in the Apparition Chamber. I didn't want to be in trouble, and I was worried that he was going to ask about the case. Then I saw him holding his wand towards you, so I grabbed you and disapparated us... here." He motioned to the surrounding area, then realisation dawned on Hermione.

"We've been here before." She said.

"Yep." Harry replied simply.

Last time they were here, Ron had walked out on them during their Horcrux hunting. She had spent the entire time pining for him, drawing out their stay for as long as possible in the hope that he would somehow manage to find his way back. He did, of course, but in an entirely different location.

"So, what now?" She searched Harry's expression for some sort of plan - unsuccessfully. Her shoulders hunched. "We can't go back." she said quietly.

Harry nodded solemnly in agreement as a strange sense of de ja vous struck the pair of them. Last time they had been here they were on the run from the Ministry, missing Ron and worrying about their loved ones. This time didn't appear to be much different.

"I need to warn Ginny." Harry broke the silence.

"Are you a complete _idiot_?" Hermione snapped, enraged. "Harry, the last thing we can do is put Ginny in danger. Especially in her condition!"

"I _know_!" Harry snapped back, but seemed to manage to steady himself. "I know," he repeated, much calmer. "but she could be in danger too." He furrowed his brow. "She doesn't know _anything_ about what happened with Hornrock. He might use that to his advantage."

Hermione groaned, holding her palms to her head. Everything was such a mess. They were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but their wands and a mysterious locket that they hadn't quite worked out yet, and again cut off from their families.

An idea appeared across Harry's face however, which both intrigued and frightened Hermione at the same time. Sometimes thinking was a dangerous activity for Harry.

"A Patronus. I'll send her my Patronus!" Harry exclaimed. Hermione, however, looked less than impressed.

"Have you forgotten about the trace?" Hermione asked, staring Harry down.

Harry faltered. The trace. They had agreed to the Ministry placing a trace on their wands while they were on duty. Of course Hornrock would have kept this activated.

Hermione nudged herself so that she was sitting next to Harry, linking her arm with his and leaning against him comfortingly. "Listen, Harry. Ginny's a smart girl. She'll suss out that something is wrong, and she'll hide out at her parent's house.

Hermione stared into the thicket of trees in front of them, with the attempt of coming up with some sort of plan. They had no resources, no magic, no food. Nothing. They needed wands that weren't traced.

Realisation struck Hermione. It was too dangerous to apparate to The Burrow, or to either of their apartments. The Ministry would have been searching or at least keeping tabs there. They wouldn't, however, suspect Shell Cottage. It had acted as a safe house for them before, why not again?

~

"So, how do we get to Shell Cottage?" Hermione asked, frowning.

Harry looked at his wand. "They didn't follow us here. Can they track apparitions?"

"They could last time we were here." Hermione replied, searching the surroundings sharply with her eyes. "But you're right, if Hornrock could track us, he _would_ have followed us here."

The pair stood frozen to the spot, trying to figure out wether apparition was a feasible option, when Hermione gasped.

"An idea?" Harry asked, raising his head from staring at his wand. He watched as Hermione walked in circles, clearly trying to remember something important.

"Cornwall... Tinworth... It _might_ be possible." Hermione mumbled while pacing slowly, still trying to remember something important.

"Hermione." Said Harry, and she stopped pacing to look at him. "Are you going to tell me what you're mumbling about or are you just going to keep mumbling places near Shell Cottage at me?"

"A portkey!" Hermione replied with enthusiasm.

"A portkey." Harry repeated, raising his left eyebrow. Hermione could tell that this was more of a question than a statement.

"Well, it's complicated, really," Hermione began. "I've never technically cast the spell before, but I know the theory. If I can get it to connect to the Tinworth network..." she trailed off, furrowing her brows.

"Not to put a damper on the plan or anything," Harry said with a grim expression, "but we can't use our wands."

"No." Hermione said thoughtfully, searching her brain. "But there _must_ be a way. They haven't followed us yet."

"Probably haven't figured out that our wands are traced." Harry replied with an air of hostility. He was clearly thinking about the betrayal of the Ministry.

Hermione couldn't blame him. She felt the same way. It wasn't the first time that they had been on the run from the Ministry. Last time they had criminalised them. Would they do it again? Would people fall for it a second time? No doubt Rita Skeeter would have something to say on the matter. She had even gone so low as to attack Dumbledore immediately after his death. The very thought of it sickened her.

Hermione's eyes widened as she remembered something. Dumbledore. Dumbledore's Army.

She pulled out a round, fake golden coin from her cloak and stared at it, hear head whirring for ideas. She knew she was onto something, she just couldn't quite tie things together in her mind. The events of the day had obviously taken its toll on her, and her lack of sleep was catching up to her.

Harry mirrored her, staring at the small round coin he had just pulled out of his pocket with raised eyebrows. It was clear to Hermione that he had the same drowsy whirring in his head that she did.

"But how will they know where to find us?" Harry asked aloud, still staring at the coins.

Hermione felt her thoughts fall in to place as she stared at the numbers on the outside of the coin, then once again reached inside her cloak. Rummaging through her pockets, she pulled out a small blue book entitled "Frederick Forehorn's Maps of the UK" and a compass.

"You just carry that stuff around with you, do you?" Harry asked her, perplexed.

"Oh, honestly Harry, of _course_ I do." Hermione replied earnestly, rolling her eyes." _Everyone_ should have a map and compass handy at all times. Especially an Auror." She shot him a glare.

Harry's lips were curved upwards in an amused manner.

"What?" She snapped.

"Nothing." Harry replied quickly, straightening his face and fixing his gaze back on the coin."

"Tell me." Hermione fixed a cold, stern look at Harry's face. With everything that had taken place over the past twenty four hours or so, she didn't have the patience at that moment for Harry's childish sense of humour.

"It's just..." Harry faltered, then looked from his coin back to Hermione's face. "It's good to have you back, Hermione."

"Have you gone _mad_?" Hermione snapped with a low voice. She had realised they ought to keep her voices as quiet as possible in case they attracted any unwanted attention. Not that it was likely since they were in the middle of nowhere.

Harry chuckled under his breath, but tried to, _unsuccessfully_ Hermione thought, cover it up with a cough. "Never mind, forget I said anything." He seemed to have caught on, because he had lowered his voice too.

Hermione gazed at Harry dumbfounded. Was she becoming less of a zombie now that she had set her sights on Ron? She still felt that gaping hole in her heart that could only be repaired once she was back in Ron's arms, but perhaps recent events had given her some sort of sense of purpose after all.

"You were saying?" Harry prompted the change of topic.

"Er, yes." Hermione held up the map and compass. "We can pinpoint our location using the maps. I discovered them in Florish and Blotts last year while, er, browsing the Geography section." she faltered a little bit.

Truth was, she had spent a lot of time in the Geography section in Diagon Alley's book shop desperately looking for some sort of lead to take her to Ron. She had become really good at reading maps as a result. Of course, she hardly wanted to admit that to Harry. There was no logic behind it whatsoever. How could she find a person through a map? She just needed to feel like she was doing something to keep herself sane.

Fortunately, Harry didn't ask. He just continued to wait for Hermione to elaborate.

"So, all we need to do is open the book and it'll appear as a dot on the map along with the co-ordinates." Hermione explained. "We can put the co-ordinates on the numbers on the outside where we would usually put the date of the next meeting."

"Won't you need a wand for that?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Well, techinically, yes." Hermione replied, still staring at the coin in her hand. "But it's quite a simple spell, really. I _should_ be able to do it without my wand to channel the magic, I'd just need to concentrate _really_ hard."

Hermione had learned a tiny bit of wandless magic in her seventh year at Hogwarts, where she had returned while Harry and Ron were training to be Aurors. She had to cast a levitation charm in order to pass her Charms exam. It had been difficult, and not as strong with a wand. Her feather had weakly levitated in the air for all of five seconds before it had fallen down gracefully. Professor Flitwick, however, had seemed rather impressed, and she had recieved full marks. She was sure she could manage a simply Protean charm.

Spreading the book of maps open on the ground, Hermione crouched over the page, which was expanding to almost four times the size of the book. The look on Harry's face was priceless. No matter how long you'd spent in the wizarding world, there would always be things that would surprise those who had a muggle upbringing. As a muggle born, Hermione knew this all too well.

Taking a quick mental note of the co-ordinates on the map, Hermione grasped the fake galleon in her hand and closed her eyes in concentration. As much to her surprise as Harry's, she felt a hot burn in her palm. She heard Harry yelp as he dropped his gold coin in the grass, and quickly began searching for it.

They were silent for a moment, as Hermione gazed around them looking for familiar faces. Just as she was starting to doubt that any members of the DA still had their coins, there was a _crack_ as a dreamy blonde girl appeared in front of them.

"Luna!" Harry grinned, pulling her into a grateful friendly hug.

"Hello Harry, Hermione." Luna Lovegood replied dreamily. "I got here as quick as I could."

Another _crack_ and Neville Longbottom had appeared in front of them. "Alright, Harry?" he grinned. "What are we up to, then?"

~

The scene felt really surreal to Hermione. Harry was explaining everything to Luna and Neville as Hermione stared at the coin she was still holding in her hands. There had been twenty eight members of the DA, yet only two had showed up.

Of course, many of them couldn't be there. _Fred and Colin for instance_ , Hermione thought woefully. She figured that most of them had more than likely binned the coin, rather than ignored it.

George, on the other hand, Hermione knew for a fact still had his coin. Things had been difficult for George after the Battle of Hogwarts. Without his twin, he had to adapt to life again. On top of it all, most of his family found it difficult to look at him. Ginny had admitted to Hermione one night after visiting George and Angelina that it was difficult to be around him, and to look him in the face. Molly Weasley had burst into tears one evening when the whole family had met for dinner, and George and Angelina showed up. Of course, Mrs Weasley claimed they were tears of joy, but George could clearly tell his mother was trying not to hurt his feelings. Even George admitted one drunken evening with Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron that he struggled to look in the mirror, to have Fred's face staring back at him. Hermione's heart sank as she thought of how hard George really had it. Even for identical twins, Fred and George had been extremely close.

Marietta Edgecombe, Zacharias Smith and Cho Chang had more than likely thrown their coins out. _Just as well_ , Hermione thought. Marietta had sold them out to Delores Umibridge and her Inquisitorial Squad, Smith had just been... difficult for most of the meetings, and he had abandoned them before the Battle of Hogwarts along with the Slytherins. Cho Chang and Harry had a thing once, which would probably make things awkward, especially since Harry was now married.

"We're going to find him, you know." Luna interrupted Hermione's thoughts while gazing far off into the distance and sitting on the ground cross-legged beside her.. "Dad told me that when two people are in love, they have some sort of connection together. I'm not quite sure what it meant, but I suppose it's really special."

It wasn't until then that Hermione really took in the appearance of Luna. Looks-wise, she hadn't changed one bit. Her waist length dirty blonde hair was still there, and she _still_ looked constantly surprised. She looked so much prettier, though, without so much clutter of accessories. Of course, she had a purple flower in her hair and some sort of leaf attached to her navy blue dress. Around her wrist was a cuff with some corks attached to it. Still, Hermione realised, this was quite tame for Luna.

"I know." Hermione replied, nodding, then resting her chin on her arms, which were hugging her legs. "I won't stop until I do."

Luna and Hermione sat in silent contemplation while Harry and Neville had clearly been deep in conversation. Hermione overheard Neville say "I've been staying at Dirkstone", and her head snapped up again as she looked at Neville.

"What did you just say?" She asked.

"I said Dirkstone. I've been staying at Dirkstone for a few weeks now. Strange, quiet town. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves." Neville repeated.

Hermione froze as she thought this over. What was it about that place that unsettled her? She had never been there, or even read about it, yet her eyes had been drawn to it on a map. She stood up and walked over to the boys.

"Neville," Hermione said, drawing the map that they had used earlier from her pocket, and looking through the pages before presenting a page to Neville. "Is this it?"

Neville nodded. "Yeah, that's it. The Ministry sent me there a few weeks back, said there had been some strange goings on and that I had to investigate. If you ask me, the town is just full of weirdos." Neville shook his head, pointing to the church in the middle. "This church has been closed for years, according to the locals."

Hermione looked pointedly at Harry, who seemed a little bit lost. Apparently he had forgotten their conversation back in the Ministry library. He glanced at Neville, who clearly had no idea what was going on either.

"Harry, maybe we should go with Neville." Hermione continued to stare at the map as she spoke. "I just, I... I feel as though we should be there. I don't know why."

" _What?_ " Harry asked, whirring round to meet Hermione's eyes.

"I know, it's weird, I just... I feel drawn to it. I can't explain. Can we just go and check it out?" Hermione asked, pleading.

Harry sighed. "Well, we still need to sort out the wand problem before we go anywhere."

"Wand problem?" Luna asked, her huge eyes looking up at everyone from the ground where she sat.

"The trace." Harry said simply. Luna looked a little confused. Neville, however, nodded in an understanding way.

"Oh for heavens sake, Harry, Luna doesn't work for the Ministry." Hermione rolled her eyes, taking a seat beside Luna again. "We can't use magic without it being detected by Hornrock. That's why we need your help."

"You can use my wand," Luna said, holding her wand out to Hermione. "Dad's been promising to take me shopping, I can go to Diagon Alley and get a new one!"

Hermione had been meaning to visit the new wand shop in Diagon Alley. Ollivanders, of course, had closed down years ago. Hermione had heard talk of a new wand shop that had opened up in it's place, named Puissants. The French lady that owned it seemed to be quite knowledgeable in wand lore, according to people who had visited the place.

"Oh, Luna, that would be marvellous!" Hermione exclaimed, drawing Luna into a surprise hug.

"It's a shame, though." Luna sighed, looking put down. "I do love my wand. I hope the new one matches it" she said, passing the wand to Hermione.

"If it doesn't, we'll bring it back to you." Harry promised, walking to where Hermione and Luna were sitting and sitting down beside them, followed by Neville. "But we really _need_ to get going. It won't be long before Hornrock realises that he can trace us."

"Dirkstone?" Hermione asked once again. Harry looked hesitant. "Look, we don't have a plan right now. All we have is this inkling that I have. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I still think we need to go there."

"Fine." Harry replied sceptically. "But according to the map, there's no portkey network. "

"No," Hermione agreed, but she couldn't stop herself as a grin spread across her face. "But Neville's been there. He can take us. How are you at multiple side along apparitions, Neville?"

~

The small inn that Neville had brought them to had been packed with muggles. He had apparated them to his room, which was small and bare, then taken them down to where the bar was.

"Then I told him that if he came near my lawn again, I would set the dogs on him!" A rough, ill looking man was saying in the corner to a group of equally disturbing people, who nodded and grunted, grasping on to their pints and some of them raising them up in a toast-like fashion.

"Serves him right!" growled the man next to him, sporting an angry look, a scar over his right eye and several disturbing looking tattoos, one of which looked like a bleeding eyeball.

The bar was full, and the addition of Hermione, Harry, Neville and Luna had not gone un-noticed. There were several hushed conversations going on nearby, commenting on how they were dressed and how they looked suspicious. Hermione clutched onto Harry's arm and whispered "Let's get out of here."

The four of them carried on outside the pub, where Hermione got a good look at the layout of the town. As they had appeared on the map, the buildings all seemed to circle the church in the middle. Hermione shuddered as she gazed upon the church, which sat on top of a hill that lay in the middle of the small village. The wooden buildings around them looked as though they had been over used and falling apart. Almost like slums.

"Homely, isn't it?" Neville grimaced silently. "I've been trying to get clearance to get into the church, but it hasn't been easy. Ministry says it's protected."

Hermione's eyes narrowed on the building suspiciously. "No need to follow Ministry guidelines when you're on the run." she muttered.

Harry nodded, stepping beside Hermione and lowering his voice. "We need to rest first, though. Neville, do you know if there are any free rooms in the inn?"

" _No_!" Hermione whispered, interrupting Neville as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hermione, we haven't properly slept for days now. If we find ourselves in the middle of a battle here, we need to make sure we're well rested." Harry shuddered, too. "That church gives me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Hermione knew the feeling. She felt it, too. She knew Harry was right, of course, she just wanted to charge in and see if she could find Ron. On the other hand, though, she wouldn't be much good in the state that she was in. Her eyes were heavy, muscles weak and her brain was straining to function.

Neville looked back at the inn. "Gregory should be able to get you a room somewhere. He's behind the bar. Just don't stare at him too long, he's a little... aggressive." he warned them, ushering them back inside the busy inn.

About ten minutes later, after fighting their way through the thick crowd that surrounded the bar, they faced the man that Neville had warned them about. He had a huge scar spanning from the top of his cheek to the corner of his mouth. After an awkward exchange where the bar keeper tried to accuse Harry of staring at his scar and Harry attempting to calm the man down by apologising and explaining that he wasn't staring, the man grudgingly led them up the stairs, pushing past the customers surrounding them.

Hermione's room was much the same as Neville's, and she had assumed Harry's and Luna's was too. Luna, much to the protests of Hermione and Harry, had insisted on staying to help them out. Harry had asked Neville to check on Ginny for him, and to let her know they were safe.

The cold, hard bed would have usually been unfit for anyone to manage a good sleep on, but as Hermione closed her eyes she found herself in a familiar scene.

Ron's eyes were bloodshot, red and heavy. He looked frailer, and dangerously close to death. The image stabbed Hermione like a dagger to the chest. The top half of his body, completely uncovered now, was laid with cuts, scars, bruises and dried in blood. The bottom half covered, as earlier, by rags. The torn bottoms barely went to his ankles. His eyelids strained open as the wall opened up, and an unfamiliar looking man walked in with a cloaked figure.

"We've had him here for a year, Mistress. Found him lurking around in the _forbidden_ area." A sleezy looking man with slicked back, black hair and a long pointed nose was speaking to the person in the cloak.

"My master would have been proud." A vile, familiar female drawl came from the cloak. Hermione could feel the chill going down the back of her spine, even though she seemed, like always, to have no presence in the place.

" _You_." Ron growled weakly. If the room hadn't been so deadly silent at the time, Hermione would have doubted that he had even spoken at all.

"Me." The cloaked witch raised her hands, pulling down her hood and unveiling a mass of black, frizzy hair, and a gaunt face that was staring at Ron with intensity.

As well as the physical pain he was clearly in, the emotional pain was etched on Ron's face now, and Hermione could see the trace of a tear falling from his red rimmed eye and down his cheek.

"What's the matter, boy?" the woman cackled, drawing a wand up to him. "Not happy to see me?"

Ron didn't answer, and instead weakly turned his face to face away from her with a scowl.

"Is it something to do with that Mudblood I tortured?" the woman flashed a malicious grin, stepping closer to Ron. "Or that _boy_ I-"

"Don't." Ron strained, cutting her off. "Don't talk about th- them." He was struggling for breath.

A cold, hard cackle filled the dungeon, filling Ron's face with rage.

"No matter." She grinned the same grin again. "We know where the Mudblood is now. We will have her in a matter of hours. You, on the other hand, have an hour to tell us what we need to know, or your girlfriend will." The woman raised her head to look at the man beside him. "Fetch the others."

The man disappeared, then appeared back in the room with three additional men. It was only then that Hermione noticed they had all been wearing the same cloaks. Black, with dark green trimming, and a V on the chest.

"She doesn't know anything." Ron croaked in a weak, breathless voice. Leave h-her alone." He was shaking now as two of the unfamiliar looking wizards approached him.

"Take him down." The woman was still grinning with an evil expression.

The two wizards that were approaching him held their wands to the cuffs that were binding Ron. Without saying a word, flashes of dark purple light surrounded him as he fell to the floor, the two wizards catching him with a tight, painful looking grip. Ron's eyes squeezed together in agony.

"You have information we want, boy, and you will give it to us."

"Never." Ron cracked.

"I hoped you would say that." the woman simpered, making a swift movement with her wand. " _Crucio!_ "

Ron shook violently in the hands of the two men, still squeezing his eyes shut. He didn't let out a noise, but Hermione could see the agony in the expression he wore on his face.

"I w-won't say anything" Ron whispered in a growl, straining his voice. "I will d-die b-before I tell you."

"That can be arranged." A familiar male drawl came from outside. Ron froze as his eyes shot upwards towards the opening in the wall and a blond man walked in, his messy looking hair drooping down just above his eyes.

On top of it all, Hermione wasn't prepared for what she saw next. She first heard a scuffle just outside, as a familiar voice growled "Get _off_ me." The voice filled Hermione with dread.

Ron's eyes widened. He clearly recognised the voice too. His face went even paler than it had been as his younger sister was pushed through the door in front of him, along with Neville Longbottom.

" _No_! Ron yelled, his voice clearly coming back to him. "Let her go! Let her go now! I wi-"

Ron stopped as he took in Ginny's appearance, and his mouth fell open. The bump on her stomach was outlined from the moon shining through the tiny barred window.

"Ginny..." Ron whispered, clearly trying to choke back the tears. "Y-you're-"

"Are you ready to speak yet, Weasley?" The blond man spoke gruffly. He had done quite a lot of growing up. Stubble lay on the man's chin, and his messy hair that they were used to seeing slicked back fell down past his eyes. Hermione got the feeling there was something Draco Malfoy wasn't letting on, though.

"Lay your wand on her, Malfoy, and I won't stop until every last one of you suffers." Ron growled.

"Ron, don't-" Ginny croaked tearfully, reaching out for her brother.

"What will we do with them?" Draco turned to face the cloaked, black haired woman, who was now staring intently at Ginny.

"Let's have a little fun." Bellatrix Lestrange replied.

What happened next was a little distorted. A piercing scream echoed in the room, along with flashes of green and red light flying in all sorts of directions. Then she heard a high pitched shriek as the scene once again disappeared.

"Ginny!" Hermione screamed, once again firing up from the cold hard inn bed. "No." She choked, fighting back the tears. She jumped as she heard a loud crash in Harry's room next to her, giving her the impression he had dropped something. Within seconds, Harry crashed through her door panting with a panic stricken expression. He had heard her shouting for Ginny.

"H-Harry," Hermione sobbed. "T-they've got her. They've g-got Ginny."

~

An ashen-faced Hermione sat on the small bed in the tiny room reciting the details of her dream to Harry. Once she was done, she could see that Harry was shaking. She had never seen him look so scared in his life.

"How is she still alive?" Hermione whispered. Molly Weasley had struck her down at the battle of Hogwarts. She had seen Bellatrix Lestrange's body sprawled on the ground herself. It didn't make sense at all.

"We need to go. Now." Harry choked, a tear falling from his left eye. His mind was obviously on other matters. "Now. I'll apparate across the world if I need to. I don't _care_ if I get splinched."

"Let's think about this. We don't have a lot of time," Hermione was speaking in an almost apologetic voice as she stood up and drew Harry into her arms. "I still think we should try the church."

Harry wasn't looking at Hermione. He was once again staring at the locket, trying to piece things together. Hermione unclipped the locket at the back and handed it to Harry.

"I wish we could open this," Harry said. "It obviously has some sort of connection with Ron."

Hermione nodded. She, too, had noticed the fact that every time she saw Ron in her dreams, she had been gripping on to the locket. Something then occurred to her.

"Wear the locket, Harry." She said quickly, her eyes widening with urgency.

Harry looked down at the locket. Sceptically, he placed it around his neck, and instantly hardened his expression.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked.

"I feel-" Harry began. However, how Harry felt would have to wait as Hermione's door burst open, and two men were standing there in identical black cloaks with green lining, staring eerily at them.

Hermione clutched on to Harry, but it was too late. The men had spanned the small room in seconds, grabbing on to the pair.

Everything went dark, and she was dizzy. This time, however, she didn't see Ron. Instead, she opened her eyes to find that she and Harry were in a familiar looking room. It was identical to the one she had seen Ron and Ginny in. Rather than being chained to the wall like Ron, however, Hermione and Harry were chained to each other back to back in the middle of the room.

"Where are we?" Hermione groaned weakly.

Harry was staring at the floor, as he croaked "The church. You were right. I felt it as soon as I put on the locket."

Hermione felt her whole body freeze as she asked the question she dreaded to hear the answer to. "Where is the locket?"

Harry hung his head and sighed. "They took it."

This was it. She had waited so many years to find Ron, and now that she knew where he was, she was powerless to save him. She looked down at the floor to see some drops of blood and her eyes widened. This room wasn't _just_ identical to the room she had seen. Her view of the room was restricted, but she had studied the room so intently before, that she recognised the tiny corner she could see.

"They were here." Hermione breathed. She had no doubt that the blood on the floor belonged to Ron. "Where are they?" Panic was taking over now. Without the locket, she felt that she had once again lost all connection to Ron.

Hermione could hear the wall open, but couldn't see it as her back was turned. She felt Harry freeze behind her as he clenched his fists with rage.

"Where did you hide them?" The woman growled, circling the pair of them with her wand held high.

"What are you talking about you mad woman?" Hermione heard Harry growl with venom.

"Don't get smart with me, Potter. _Crucio!_ "

Hermione felt a sharp, hot pain across her entire body as she screamed out loud. It was like sharp knives were penetrating every inch of her body. She could hear Harry strain with the pain. The curse had hit them both. Hermione felt a tear run down her cheek as the pain resided.

"Well , well little girl." Bellatrix simpered as she flashed her an ugly, gap toothed grin. "Here we are again. If you don't co-operate, we're going to have another little scene like last time.

" _I don't know anything_ " Hermione wailed, reaching to grasp Harry's hand behind her as she tried to steady her breathing, preparing for what was coming.

Bellatrix pulled out a small dagger and walked slowly towards them. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut tight, preparing for what was coming.

" _Wait!_ " Harry yelled, grasping onto Hermione's hand as though to comfort her. "I know. I can help you. Just don't hurt us."

Hermione had no clue what Harry was doing, but he seemed to sound confident. Her chest tightened as she watched Bellatrix slow her movement, looking in Harry's direction.

"Very well. Out with it Potter." She snarled, facing him. "Just know, if I find you are lying to me, the Mudblood gets it."

"What do you want to know?" Harry croaked weakly. Was he trying to distract her?

"Where did they go?" Bellatrix spat, holding her wand up to Hermione. Hermione's eyes widened in realisation. Was she asking about what she thought she was asking about? She glanced at the blood on the floor again.

"Answer faster, Potter. _CRUC_ -"

" _Expelliarmus_!" A voice boomed from behind Hermione as her heart lept. She saw Bellatrix fall to the floor as her wand landed beside Hermione. She felt the binding curse instantly remove itself from her body, and the chains loosen as an golden light enveloped her and Harry.

All strength returning to her body, she grabbed the wand and ran towards their saviour, the adrenaline pumping through her. She grabbed on to his face, making sure she wasn't seeing things, and that he really was in front of her. That familiar red hair, the facial hair growing in from a year's imprisonment, the tired looking circles around his eyes.

Ron had clasped onto her face, too. Before she knew it, he pulled her towards him so that their lips were caressing one another in a hungry, longing, consuming kiss that Hermione had been longing for as they grasped onto one another tightly, Ron running his left hand through Hermione's messy hair.

As soon as the kiss begun, it it had been interrupted by Harry clearing his throat. The couple turned towards him. His face was still etched with worry.

"Ginny's safe, mate." Ron croaked, giving him a weak smile. Harry instantly relaxed, then pulled Ron into a tight hug.

"It's good to see you, Ron." Harry replied.

Hermione grasped on to Ron's hand. "Let's get out of here before she wakes up." She motioned towards the unconscious Bellatrix Lestrange that was sprawled out in the corner.

"I don't think we can apparate in here" Harry frowned.

"We can't, but I know the way out." Ron's voice was barely a whisper now. The adrenaline of finding Hermione had clearly worn off, and he was struggling to stay on his feet. Hermione grasped on to him quickly as he stumbled. Noticing this, Harry quickly grasped on to Ron's other side, helping Hermione hold him up.

"Lead the way mate." Harry replied, clapping his best friend lightly on the back.

The trio made their way down the dark, dingy corridors of the dungeon, before Ron quietly instructed them up a steep staircase. The staircase seemed to go on forever, especially with Ron losing strength moment by moment. His eyelids drooped so that they were almost closed.

Once they reached the top, a wall stood in front of them blocking them from going any further.

"What now, Ron?" Hermione asked with an air of concern. His body was getting heavier and heavier.

"Bricks." He croaked. He tried to open his mouth again, but to no avail. Ron had lost his voice. Hermione and Harry exchanged glances.

Hermione drew Bellatrix's wand to the bricks, whispering "Alohamora." It was only then that Hermione noticed that three of the bricks had been shaped differently and sticking outwards from the rest of the wall. As the three bricks clicked in to place, the wall whirred to the side as it had done in the dungeon.

Hermione wasn't expecting such a beautiful sight to materialise behind the dark, dingy scene that they had just left. They had entered the main area of the church, which was light and airy. Golden spires reached atop the massive structure, where statues of angelic looking people in robes stood in golden archways. Fancy looking golden, patterned pillars lay around the edges of the structure. Hermione was taken aback.

"-the Mudblood and the Potter boy." Hermione heard gruff voices from the other end of the room. She and Harry pulled Ron behind the nearest pillar, thanking their lucky stars that it was wide enough to conceal all three of them.

"The blood traitor got away, though." Hermione felt a chill as the gravelly voice of her boss echoed in the large building.

The trio stood behind the pillar silently as the sound of the wall opening again filled the room. Hermione peered around the pillar to see that they were gone. Quickly, Harry and Hermione grasped on to Ron, marching to the massive glass mosaic doors, where light poured into the room.

They had no time to celebrate as they exited the church. Grabbing Ron into her arms, and pulling Harry beside her, the trio disapparated with a _crack_.

~

Being in her old bedroom felt strange. Her parents had kept it exactly the way she left it. Neat, clean and lined with books. Hermione glanced over to the double bed in the middle of the room against the back wall where Ron lay under her colourful patched duvet and sighed.

Hermione had been in such a rush when she pulled her best friend and fiancée out of the church, that she panicked and apparated them to the first place she could think of. Since she had lost Ron, her parents hadn't really seen or heard from her a whole lot. There were a lot of people that hadn't seen or heard from her in a while. Needless to say, therefore, that Hermione's parents had been shocked to find their tearful daughter kneeling on their doorstep with a puzzled looking Harry grasping on to her arm and a white face, and an extremely pale and weak looking Ron sprawled in her arms, barely clad in rags.

Taking a seat on the chair next to him, Hermione clasped on to Ron and stroked his hand gently. He had been out for days. Harry had gone to the Burrow to tell everyone that Ron was safe and in recovery. He hadn't returned yet, though Hermione suspected this had something to do with Ginny. She had noticed the guilt in his eyes when she had told him about her capture. He had felt responsible, no doubt.

Thankfully, the Ministry seemed to have lost track of them when Hermione had apparated using the wand that she had grabbed in the dungeon as Bellatrix was disarmed. No doubt the wand had no trace on it. As if Bellatrix Lestrange would have allowed such a thing. Of course, she had cast countless protection and concealment charms on her parents house a long time ago, and renewed them after she had put Ron to bed with Harry's help.

Not for the first time since she had arrived home, Hermione sat and pondered the events of the last week. She had no idea how Ginny and Ron had escaped, since Ron hadn't woken up yet and she hadn't heard from Ginny or Harry. They couldn't risk trying to contact one another. Ron was far too fragile to handle another apparation if they were to be found.

"Her-Hermione." A shaky voice rattled beside her. Hermione's heart lept as she gently squeezed Ron's hand and gave him a weak smile.

"Shh... don't strain yourself." Hermione whispered, stroking her hand through his thick, messy red hair.

Ron's eyes were open and staring into hers now, and he was grasping on to Hermione's hand, shaking. "D-don't g-go..."

"I'm not going anywhere." Hermione replied gently, stroking his hand again. "I'm here, now just you concentrate on getting better." She bent low and placed a light peck on his cheek.

She really wanted to ask Ron about what had happened. Both in the last three years, and in the few hours between her dream and her capture. She had so many unanswered questions, but her priority was to make Ron better. Instead, she sat pondering inside her head as Ron was still trying to gather strength.

The locket had been her main worry in the last few days that Ron had been unconscious. It had been missing since they had been taken to the church. What was it for? Why did Ron send it to her? Why did it show her Ron while she was asleep, and why only in the last few days? How much trouble were they in now that the locket had ended up in the hands of the cult that had kept Ron imprisoned for over a year?

Then there was Bellatrix Lestrange. She was supposed to be dead. Hermione saw her body. How was she breathing now? There was definitely some dark magic involved in her resurrection, or whatever it was. Who was she working for? Hermione examined the wand that sat beside her on the table next to her bed. She hadn't recognised it. It definitely wasn't the one Hermione had taken from her before. Hermione had broken that one into pieces and burned it. She shuddered as she recalled the screeching noise the wand made as it crackled in the flames of the fire at the Burrow, surrounded by the Weasleys.

What was even curiouser was the wand that Ron had been carrying. Hermione hadn't noticed until she taken it from him as he had collapsed in her arms. It was the one Draco Malfoy had been carrying when Hermione saw him in her vision.

A movement caught the corner of her eye. Ron was struggling to sit up in her bed. "Wh-where are we?" he shuddered.

"My old bedroom," Hermione replied soothingly, rising from the seat that she was sitting on and swooping round to take a seat on the bed next to Ron. "I missed you so much." Her voice cracked a little.

Ron leaned his head on Hermione's shoulder, grimacing in pain. "Missed you too."

"I know you've been through a lot, but we do need to talk." Hermione looked down at Ron's poorly face. "Not now. But soon. There's a lot of unanswered questions, and we need to make sure Bella-"

"It's not her." Ron interrupted with anther shudder. Hermione gazed at him perplexed and worried. "No, I mean, this... whatever they are. I don't know who or what it is."

"I don't understand." Hermione said, pulling Ron into her arms and holding him. Being able to do that again felt so good. She was worried, however, that Ron wasn't making sense.

"I can't explain it. Sh-she changes." Ron swallowed the lump in his throat, then continued. "I-I saw it change, Hermione. It can change into anyone, living or d-dead." Ron paused and cleared his throat, choking back a tear. "I d-don't think it's human. B-but it h-has their memories."

Hermione rose from the bed once again, pulling out a plastic cup from the cupboard in her bedside table, and a bottle of water. She poured the water into the cup and handed it to Ron, returning to her previous position as Ron shakily took a sip. She began to stroke his hair as he continued, leaning on her chest.

"You don't have to carry on." Hermione frowned. She didn't want to force him to tell her everything straight away. "Just take your time. I need you to get better."

The couple lay in Hermione's bed in silence for what seemed like an hour. Ron was clutching on to Hermione's waist and snuggled into her chest as Hermione had both her arms around him, still stroking his hair gently, and placing the occasional kiss on his forehead.

" _Hermione, dear_." She heard the call of her mother through the silence in the room. " _You have, er, visitors._ "

Hermione smiled down at Ron. "I'm guessing they're your visitors."

Ron nodded weakly, but still grasped on to Hermione. "I-I d-don't want you to leave me."

"Shh," Hermione replied, cupping his face in his hand and giving him a reassuring kiss on the lips, cut all too short by the rattling of her bedroom door. "I'll be right outside the door." She slid off the bed, squeezing Ron's hand gently once more, then opened it, letting in a mass of red hair.

The rest of the Weasleys stood back as Mrs Weasley, sober for a change, wailed as she ran towards Ron, scooping him into her arms and murmuring something about her baby boy. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Hermione would have giggled.

Spotting the black hair in the crowd of red, Hermione made her way to Harry. It was time to get more answers. Harry nodded as Hermione motioned towards the hallway with her head. She cast a concerned glance at Ron, who seemed preoccupied with a sobbing Molly Weasley who was holding onto him for dear life, then followed Harry out the door.

"No one saw all of you, did they?" Hermione asked. She wasn't about to risk Ron's life when she had just gotten him back. She still felt like it might be some time before she truly got Ron back, since he really wasn't acting himself. Of course, she had suspected nothing less. In fact, Hermione had expected worse considering he had been imprisoned and tortured for a whole year. There was also still the lingering question about what he had been doing the other two years he had been missing.

Harry shook his head. "No, we didn't apparate. We took the train. I had expected Mr Weasley to have been admiring everything and attracting attention, but he just sat and held onto Mrs Weasley's hand. They've barely spoken since we left."

Hermione nodded. "Understandably so. What did you find out?"

Harry proceeded to tell Hermione about the last few days. Apparently, once he had gotten to the Burrow, everyone was in a panic. Ginny had already told them about what had happened. Molly Weasley had been ready to travel to Dirkstone to get Ron, before Harry told her that he was safe.

Once they had gotten a moment alone while Molly was trying to contact the rest of the family, Ginny had explained to Harry that Draco Malfoy had helped them escape.

Hermione's mouth fell open as Harry told her this. "Draco Malfoy?" Hermione asked, perplexed. He was the last person Hermione had suspected to help.

"Lucius is a member of the Vicirius. They're the group that captured Ron." Harry explained.

"That still doesn't explain why he helped." Hermione replied suspiciously. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"He was still at the Burrow when I had gotten there. I was the same - sprung my wand out as soon as I saw him. Ginny stopped me." Harry sounded a bit bitter about that fact. "He's still a sarcastic, self righteous git, but he did seen to be telling the truth, and he did save my pregnant wife, so I do owe him a chance." he finished begrudgingly.

"What did he tell you?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked a little worried now, and glanced around him to make sure no one was listening in. They could still hear the wailing of Molly Weasley coming from Hermione's room. "The Vicirius is a group that came together after the fall of Voldemort. Malfoy said he'd been forced into joining by his dad." He didn't sound overly convinced by this fact. "He didn't really seem know anything else. He had only been there for a few days, and says he was kept in the dark about everything. He claimed he was just as surprised to see Bellatrix there as we were."

"He didn't seem all that surprised." Hermione said, thoughtfully. "But he did look like he was planning something. He must have been planning on getting Ginny, Neville and Ron out."

Harry nodded. "That's what he said. He's gone into hiding now, too."

"That's all he told you?" Hermione enquired, thinking about all the times Malfoy had chosen the dark over light. Something just wasn't making sense. "There must have been something in it for him."

"That's what I think." Harry agreed. "But I don't think he's a threat. He genuinely seems to want to avoid being associated with them."

The pair stood in the hallway quietly for a few minutes. The Weasleys sounded as though they were in good spirits. They could hear George telling a joke, and the rest of them roaring with laughter. Hermione couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that they still had a lot to figure out.

"Has Ron been awake long?" Harry asked her, gazing at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione nodded and filled Harry in on what Ron had told her, about how he didn't think the _thing_ that had taken her shape and her memories had been human. Of course, Bellatrix Lestrange was barely human herself.

"What confuses me is that it picks up the memories and personality of the person that it turns into. It's not a Metamorphmagus. I think Ron's right about it not being human."

Harry stared at Hermione equally perplexed, contemplating silently.

Although Hermione understood that they were a lot closer than they had been previously to finding everything out, her conversation with Harry had also raised more questions. She would have to get access to some books. There was only one safe place she could think of to do that. Hogwarts.

~

The next few days passed without any notable events. Harry had returned back to the Burrow to spend some more time with Ginny and to ensure all possible protection was around her at all times, and Hermione barely left the side of her bed where Ron lay, sleeping most of the time.

As the time passed, Ron was getting more and more alert, but still struggled to talk about what had happened in the last few years.

Hermione had filled him in on her life. Ron stayed silent as he listened intently to her talk about how she had become an Auror, though winced slightly when she mentioned the locket. In a bid not to force Ron into any discussions he wasn't ready for, she moved on to tell him about Hornrock and how he had almost sent Hermione and Harry on a quest for the hat of Anala.

"Then we... found you." Hermione trailed off. She wanted to tell him about how the locket had led her to him, but she had to wait. Unfortunately, she also had the foreboding feeling that they were running out of time.

"C'mere." Ron croaked, motioning for Hermione to join him on the bed. As she crawled next to him, leaning her head on his chest, he began to stroke her hair gently.

"I love you." Ron breathed into her hair, then kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too." Hermione choked into his chest. It felt surreal to be lying next to him, talking to him and having the chance to be with him again.

Hermione still worried that someone would take him away from her again, and she didn't think she could survive it this time. She had been a shell of herself for years, just as far gone from everyone else as he had gone from her. The one thing Hermione knew, was that things felt right again being in his arms.

"I thought about you. The whole time." Ron whispered softly, gazing down weakly at her.

Hermione froze. She didn't want to ruin the moment they were having, but she wasn't going to stop him if he felt like he wanted to talk about things. She sat up, gently resting his head on to her chest and wrapped her arms around him gently, trying not to hurt him. He looked so fragile.

"I missed you so much." Ron continued, a tear glinting in his eye. "I thought I would never see you again. Or that you would have moved on-"

"Moved on?" Hermione interrupted, feeling a little offended. Didn't Ron realise by now that she could never imagine being able to move on from him? She never believed in soul mates, but she and Ron had become close enough.

"Found someone better." He mumbled sheepishly.

Her face softened, and her lip twitched. Ron glanced at her hesitantly, unsure of what her reaction would be. He looked relieved, however, as Hermione began to buckle with laughter.

"Have you gone mad, woman?" Ron laughed too, enlightened by the smile on Hermione's face.

"Better? Someone better?" Hermione choked out between giggles. "Ronald Weasley, when will you get it? I don't think anyone is better for me than you are." She kissed his nose gently. Ron, however, moved his face so that her lips were on his, locking her into an very intimate and lingering kiss. Hermione could feel Ron harden on her leg.

His hand stroked down the left side of her head, playing with her bushy curls gently, as he moved so that he was pressed against her fully.

Sensing Ron wanted more than just a kiss, she pulled away from him, searching his eyes. Ron was looking at her with that familiar hungry look she remembered so well. He wanted her as much as she wanted him, but she didn't want to take the risk of hurting him.

When Hermione told him this, it was Ron's turn to let out a small laugh. Hermione always loved his smile, and he knew it drove her crazy.

"I want to be with you, Hermione. I know you won't hurt me." Ron paused, then fixed her with a serious look. "But if you're not ready yet, that's fine too."

"Oh, Ron, you know I want you." Hermione replied just as seriously. "But you're too weak."

Almost as though to prove himself capable, Ron pressed his lips hungrily on Hermione's lips, massaging her tongue furiously with his own. Hermione, completely lost in the moment, responded by rolling on to her back so that Ron lay on top of her, stroking her leg upwards until he reached the button of her jeans. He looked at her as though for permission, to which Hermione nodded. This seemed to be enough reassurance for him.

He took his hand away from the buttons quickly to grab a hold of his wand, muttering "muffliato". Hermione couldn't believe that a silencing charm hadn't occurred to her. The last thing she wanted was to be heard. He then cast a contraceptive charm. _Since_ _when did Ron become the sensible one?_ Hermione had asked herself.

After placing his wand back on Hermione's tidy bedside table Ron moved his strong hands back to the buttons, which were slowly and gently undone. As he tore her jeans off, admiring the full view of her legs, Hermione blushed. It had been quite some time since they had been together intimately. She was almost as nervous as she had been on their first time, and he was too. She could see it etched across his face as he furrowed his brow.

Ron stroked her bare legs slowly, from the top of her knee to her thigh, and Hermione quivered as a jolt of excitement crawled through her entire body. She could feel the tingling sensation, then gave him the look that was only reserved for him. The look that said _take me_.

Just as he reached the top of her thigh, though, he took his hand away. Hermione gazed at him questioningly, and he responded by stroking the side of her face, giving her a soft kiss on the lips, then trailing kisses from the corner of her lips to her neck.

Hermione squirmed and pressed herself against Ron as he stroked his tongue along the trail of freckles on her neck that she had always been ashamed of. Ron had always treated them as though they were the most beautiful things on the planet.

His hands moved to the t-shirt she had been wearing, and he was looking into her eyes with a burning desire. As he helped her pull the t-shirt over her head, he sat back to admire Hermione's full form as she lay in front of him in only her underwear. Hermione could feel her face heating up.

"You are beautiful, you know that?" Ron mumbled appreciatively against her neck, before trailing kisses again. This time, however, he started on her collarbone, before moving downwards to her modest breasts. While Hermione always felt they weren't big enough, Ron always insisted that they were perfect to him.

Ron's hand moved to unclasp her bra, and it came undone swiftly, falling from her and revealing her bare flesh.

He ran his hand over her left nipple softly, sending a wonderful sensation fluttering from Hermione's stomach and downwards. A flicker of his tongue, and Hermione moaned quietly, gripping on to his hair a little and arching her back.

"Ron... I want... I-I-..."

What Hermione wanted, though, never quite got communicated as Ron chose that moment to stroke her left thigh with his gentle fingers that had only moments ago been caressing her breast. She moaned a little louder this time, and he shifted his attention to the right nipple, proceeding to give it just as much attention as the left. Hermione wasn't sure how much longer she could take it. She needed to feel him inside her. She could feel her underwear dampen as Ron lightly stroked the outside with the tip of his finger, hovering over her clit as she gripped on to his hair.

His lips were moving lower now, trailing kisses from her flat stomach, down past her belly button, until they had reached the destination Hermione felt they were going for. Rather than plunge head first, however, Ron licked the inside of her right thigh, sending her wild. As her back arched, she let out a surprised groan of mixed pleasure and frustration.

His hands tugged on her knickers, which were quickly discarded to the floor with a little effort from both of them. He gazed at her in amazement once more, before moving his head to where her knickers had been previously.

Not before time, Ron flicked his tongue over her clit, and she squeaked. As he tasted her, it was like a spark was ignited in Hermione's entire body. Thankful that no one could hear her, she squealed loudly as Ron's tongue slid inside her, his hand replacing the tongue on her clit. His fingers rubbed her gently as his tongue caressed her insides. She could feel the pleasure mounting up as she squealed "Ron, I-I'm g-going t-"

It was too late. She felt an intense wave of paradise as her orgasm peaked, and she began to leak onto Ron's chin. Ron, however, didn't seem to mind as he licked her from his face, and from herself.

Hermione grinned as he raised his face to level with hers, and she tasted herself as his tongue once again penetrated her mouth. There was no way, however, that she was letting Ron do all the work. She wanted him to know how much she had missed him, too. He more than deserved it.

She rolled Ron off her gently, taking care not to hurt him. She stared closely at his face. His cuts and bruises had started to clear up, but the marks were still evident. A stab of guilt hit her as she lifted his top to reveal the scar on his upper arm that she had caused.

Almost as though he had read her mind, Ron cupped her chin and kissed her softly, before telling her "it's not your fault" for what felt like the millionth time. No matter what he told her, though, Hermione would always feel responsible.

As she sat back to look at him, she could see the discomfort on Ron's face, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. In addition to the scars he had before, there were some new ones. Some nasty looking ones. There was what looked like a huge slash across his stomach, which had left quite a mark. Bruises surrounded this area, as well as the top of his chest. They had really done a number on him, and Hermione felt a flash of rage.

Ron frowned, looking away. "I look horrible." He sighed, shaking his head. Hermione's face softened, then she stroked his bare chest softly, running her hand over his stomach, trailing above his scar as not to hurt him.

"Nonesense." Hermione smiled softly at him, running her other hand down his chest. "You look beautiful."

"Just what every man needs to hear." Ron huffed. Hermione giggled, gently pushing Ron back so that he was now lying with his back against the bed. She couldn't make all the pain go away, but she was definitely going to try to make him feel good about himself. Inwardly swearing vengeance on those who had caused him pain, she focused her attention on his legs. Ron had been wearing a pair of spare jeans that had been previously left there by her cousin. It was strange to see him in muggle clothes. Though, _he won't be much longer_ , Hermione thought.

Hermione mimicked Ron's previous movements on her, trailing kisses down to his belly trail, before stroking the outside of his jeans over his throb. She felt him quiver and was thanked as she heard a soft groan escape from his lips. She wouldn't keep him waiting too long. They had done far too much waiting.

She unbuttoned the jeans quickly, shifting him slightly so that she could pull them off with ease. The briefs he was wearing barely concealed the solid erection beneath the thin material. She smiled to herself, before removing the briefs too.

A large, thick scar lay across his upper thigh. The smile was instantly wiped from her face, again replaced by fury. She had never wanted to destroy people as much as she did at that very moment.

Perhaps as a distraction, Ron grasped on to her hair, stroking her softly. This was enough to calm her for the moment. She needed to show Ron how much he still meant to her, and she needed to do it fast.

She took his length into her hand, feeling his hard girth quiver again in pleasure. He groaned louder this time, tightening his grip onto her hair. This gave Hermione the satisfaction that she needed to continue. She touched the tip of his foreskin with her lips, before taking him into her mouth, sliding her tongue down his shaft as she stroked the root of his penis. Encouraged by Ron's hands, she proceeded to stroke him gently with her tongue, from the underside of his head to the middle of his shaft. Ron jerked a little, before freezing his hands. Hermione looked up at him, perplexed. Did he want her to stop?

He answered her silent question by panting "H-Hermione... Can you d-do something for me?" Ron looked a little timid now. Was she doing something wrong?

"Anything." Hermione answered, paying close attention to his face.

"I need... I-I-..." Words were clearly failing him. He let out a low growl of frustration before releasing his grip on her hair, and pulling her upwards to his face once more, kissing her deeply, with a yearning waiting to be answered. He pulled Hermione's legs to the sides of his waist so that she was on top of him. He no longer needed to tell her what he wanted her to do. He was clearly going to show her instead. Hermione's suspicion told her that it was the same thing that she was yearning for.

Before she knew it, Ron had moved her so that she lay on her back on the tiny bed, with him on top of her. She ran her hands through his flaming hair as his kiss hardened and got deeper. His tip was pressing on her clit, and she yelped a little.

Hermione felt Ron grin against her lips as his tip moved from her clit to her wet entrance. The couple groaned in unison, clinging onto each other as though for dear life. Hermione was still gripped onto his hair as his hands tightened on her waist.

He stopped again, looking into her eyes once more. "I love you. So much." he murmured, his eyes reflecting the desire that Hermione was feeling.

"I love you too, Ron." Hermione bit her lip, then considered him for a second, before saying "I want you to fuck me."

This seemed to drive Ron wild with desire, as she knew it would. He snarled as he returned to kissing her deeply, his tip now closing in on it's target.

Hermione winced in pain as she felt him slide inside her gently. It had been far too long. She tried to hide the flash of pain from Ron, but it was too late.

"Fuck Hermione," Ron groaned. "You're s-so tight."

He reached for her hand which was above her head on the pillow and grasped on to it. Hermione tightened her grip as she whispered "it's ok. Please take me."

"I'll be gentle" Ron promised, kissing her forehead. She scrunched her eyes as his full length shifted inside of her, filling her completely. Hermione felt the back of her throat tighten as the pain worsened, but she didn't tell him to stop. Instead, she gripped his hand tighter, signalling for him to continue.

As Ron began to move himself gently inside her, she felt the pressure loosen before it was slowly replaced by pleasure. Ron was taking care not to hurt her, moving slowly and paying attention to her reactions. She bit down on her lip, which was answered by a low growling moan by Ron, who began to move a little quicker and a little deeper, moving his free hand to stroke her hair gently. She felt herself moisten, allowing Ron easier access as his movements matched hers, and gentility had been thrown out the window in an instant. Hermione's hands stroked down Ron's back as he moved upwards, gripping on to her hips once more and quivering inside her.

"Hermione... I c-can't-" Ron started, but Hermione responded by tightening herself around Ron's shaft as it penetrated her completely.

" _Ron_.." Hermione groaned loudly, moaning in pace with Ron's thrusts. "I'm ready." she whispered.

He looked relieved, thrusting as hard as he could manage without hurting her. They both moaned and groaned in unison as they hit the peak of their sensual orgasms, Hermione squealing loudly and Ron groaning with appreciation and relief.

It was as though all the tension had been lifted. They both felt as light as air as Hermione felt him spill inside her. She pulled the cover over them and kissed him, gentler this time.

Ron murmured into her lips. "Hermione, you are bloody amazing, you know that?"

"Always the tone of surprise." Hermione laughed, pressing her forehead against his. Ron chuckled.

The couple froze as there was a knock on the door. Scrambling quickly to gather up her clothes, and throwing some clothes on the bed for Ron to put on, Hermione pulled herself quickly back into her jeans and t-shirt. When she turned back to Ron, he was fumbling with his own t-shirt, pulling it clumsily into place.

Hermione squeezed her eyes together as she moved to answer the door. Surely whoever was on the other side would suspect something. It wasn't like they were too young, she just wasn't up for discussing the matter with her parents. She could only imagine that they would be mortified. Her heart loosened a little as she opened the door to see George's face, which looked as though he was sharing a private joke with himself.

"Alright, little brother?" George grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at the couple. "Sorry to interrupt."

Ron grumpily threw a pillow at him, which missed George and hit the shelf behind him. Thankfully, the shelf was so packed with books that it just sat still.

"You need to sort out your aim, mate." George grinned at his little brother. Hermione couldn't remember George being this happy since Fred. She knew, though, that this had a lot to do with Ron being found. Despite all their joking around, Hermione knew that the Weasleys all cared deeply for one another, as a family should.

Hermione kissed Ron on the cheek, ignoring George's mocking. "I'll wait outside and let you two talk." She didn't want to get in the way when the Weasleys came to visit. They deserved as much alone time with Ron as she did.

George winked at her as she left. Hermione stifled a laugh, trying not to give herself away, even though George clearly knew what she and Ron had been up to not long before he knocked on the door. She closed the door, went to the bathroom, fixed her hair and her clothes, then sat downstairs with her parents for the couple of hours that George visited for. She was glad to see him acting like himself again. He, like her, had been renewed by Ron's safety.

~

Ron still wasn't his old self, but he was certainly a lot closer compared to the shell that Hermione had found in Dirkstone. _Or_ , Hermione thought, _hadn't he found me?_ It was true that she was grateful to have him back, but she hadn't intended on him needing to rescue her. She never was, or wanted to be for that matter, the damsel in distress often portrayed in muggle fairytales.

He was sleeping a lot less now. They had been at her home for two weeks and Hermione was growing concerned for the safety of her parents. In fact, if she didn't know about the risks of too many memory charms so well, she would have considered modifying their memory and sending them abroad again.

She had spoken to her parents on a number of occasions about relocating, and explained that they may be in danger, but her parents being muggles had insisted that the police would more than suffice. Hermione had to get moving. She couldn't risk staying there much longer.

It was for this reason that Hermione was packing quietly in her bedroom at midnight. Ron was snoring loudly from her bed - something that she used to get irritated with. Ironically, after his disappearance she had trouble sleeping without the disturbingly loud background noise.

Hermione still hadn't asked Ron about his disappearance, feeling that he still wasn't ready to talk about it. She was surprised, then, when Ron snaked his arm around her waist from behind, his bare chest resting against her back, and leaned his chin on her shoulder telling her "we need to talk" as she threw a ball of black plain socks into her bag - the same bag they had used while hunting Horcruxes. She hadn't even noticed that his snoring had stopped, let alone the fact that he had risen from the bed.

She turned to face him, taking in his worried expression. Ron took her hand as they walked side by side back to Hermione's single bed, pushing aside her pink bed cover which had been crumpled as Ron had risen. Hermione waited for Ron to talk.

The couple sat in silence for a minute as Ron gazed thoughtfully at the floor, most likely deciding where to start. Hermione waited patiently.

"I'm ready." He said finally.

Hermione nodded. She wasn't sure if she fully believed him, but she knew they had to discuss matters soon. They had wasted far too much time. She waited on Ron to continue in silence, not wanting to put him under any pressure.

"Shit, where do I start- Hermione, I don't remember much of what happened. You should know that first." Ron said decidedly. "Once I was captured my memory was heavily modified. All I remember is being in hiding. I don't remember what from."

Hermione frowned. This wasn't the explanation she was hoping for. As much as she knew it wasn't Ron's fault, she couldn't help but feel a little put out. However, she allowed Ron to continue.

"All I remember is-" Ron paused as his voice began to crack. "is being in that room. Hornrock was there. I thought he was coming to help me at first, but he proved me wrong." He looked down at the scars dotted around his chest. Hermione had noticed these on several occasions.

Ron stopped talking. Hermione watched as his face fell, and he buried his face on her shoulder. For the first time since Fred's funeral, Ron began to break down. His shoulders were shaking with silent sobs as Hermione flung her arms around him and pulled him closer to her.

"S-stop." Hermione whispered. Something had just occurred to her. She mentally slapped herself for not thinking of it earlier. "You don't need to tell me."

"B-but it's important" Ron protested between sobs. "I-I need t-to-"

"Stop." Hermione repeated, firmer this time.

"I-I'm such a fucking mess, Hermione." Ron sobbed even louder as Hermione tightened her grip. "I c-can't even... I d-don't want you to s-see me like this."

"Shh." Hermione soothed, stroking his hair as he sobbed into her lap. "It's ok. I understand." she whispered softly to him. Then, to Ron's surprise, she said "we need to get to the Burrow."

Ron looked up at her, his bloodshot eyes tear stained. Hermione looked closely at his face. Since he had cleaned and shaved, she had noticed a few new scars. There was a cut below his right eye and one on his left cheek. She hadn't asked him about them, of course. She wiped his eyes softly and gave him what she hoped was a compassionate smile.

"The Penseive." Hermione explained. "Harry has it."

Ron's eyes widened in understanding, then a flash of panic grazed his face. "N-no, Hermione, I d-don't want you to see-"

"I already saw." Hermione interrupted calmly. They hadn't yet spoke about the locket, but she felt that this was the time to bring it up. "I saw you in that room. I saw you chained up. I saw you being t-tortured- oh, _stop_ it Ron." she sobbed as Ron moved to take her into his arms. "I d-don't want you to comfort me. It's you I'm worried about."

Ron looked a little hurt, but he lowered his arms and Hermione's expression softened again.

"I'm s-sorry." Hermione whispered shakily. "But it's obviously difficult for you to talk about," she took his hand into hers, "and Harry will w-want to know. He wants to help."

It took another half an hour of protests from Ron, but Hermione eventually managed to talk him around. The fact that any time he tried to talk about what had happened he broke down seemed to be the winning point.

Ron helped her finish packing everything into her deceivingly small bag. As she lifted it from the ground, she heard a familiar clutter of books. She had decided not to let her parents know where they were going - the less they knew the better. Thanking her lucky stairs for enlightening charms, she grasped on to Ron's hand and with a loud _crack_ , they disapparated.

The Burrow lay in the middle of the dark field - an oddly shaped house, even by wizarding standards. Hermione always felt that this was part of the charm, though. Still holding onto Ron's hand, they made their way to the house. The lack of lights indicated that no one was awake. Of course, why would they be?

The door creaked as Ron pushed it open, pulling Hermione inside by the hand. A strange sense of nostalgia hit her as she remembered the last time she and Ron had sneaked through the Burrow at two in the morning. She smiled to herself. Reminiscing with Ron about their early morning bedroom meet ups, however, would have to wait. They had more important matters to attend to.

As they reached the landing containing Ginny's bedroom, Hermione paused, before knocking gently on the door. She heard a muffled voice at the other end mumble "whozzat?"

Hermione peeked her head around the door to see Harry and Ginny occupying two single beds which had been pushed together. Ginny sat up, rubbing her eyes and shaking Harry, who awoke with a start.

"Sorry." Hermione whispered. She entered the room followed by Ron, who seemed to have gone quiet. "It's urgent."

~

Drawing the silvery substance from Ron and placing it into the Pensieve, Hermione and the others stared at it. Ron was looking out the window in silence.

The Ministry of Magic materialised in front of them as they found themselves drawn into Ron's memory. Witches and wizards were bustling about carrying parchments and important looking files, paper planes were flying above them of their own free will and Ron was walking rather speedily towards the Floo network with a pale, terrified expression on his face. Hermione, Harry and Ginny watched as he disappeared through the fireplace.

An odd scene materialised in front of them next. Ron was completely alone in the middle of a deserted forest, yet he appeared to be having a muttered conversation with himself. An argument, even.

"I don't care - no, I can't go home, I need to find it. I need to make sure _they_ don't get it. No - I told you! Stop it!" Ron's face was scrunched up and he was holding onto his head as though trying to calm a headache.

The scene faded again. A much more familiar scene appeared in front of them. They were in Dirkstone again. The church lay in front of them, though Ron was nowhere to be seen. A few dodgy looking characters in the darkly familiar cloaks entered, although Hermione couldn't recognise either. Not that it was all that surprising, there was bound to be plenty of them. Hermione spotted a quick glance of Ron coming out from behind one of the houses where he appeared to be hiding before Dirkstone faded into murky whiteness.

A dark cave next. The eeriness crept over them as Hermione shuddered, watching Ron carefully and quietly walk down the small, bare narrow passage that lay in front of him, his lit wand held in front of him. He appeared to be clutching onto it for dear life, but his hand seemed quite steady.

The passage opened up and a lake appeared in front of them. Hermione felt Harry shudder beside her, and she didn't need to ask why. The scene was painfully familiar. Although there was no boat. No way to get across at all, it seemed.

Hermione watched Ron stand there looking rather bewildered. He edged closer to the water, looking down into the darkness. "Careful - _careful_!" he muttered, as his had drew towards the still water. On his touch, however, Ron yelped and drew back quickly, grasping onto his hand. Hermione concluded that the lake was in fact as cold as it looked. Ron was now looking over at a large rock that Hermione hadn't noticed before. It sat just in front the water, and had something messily carved into it.

" _No!_ " Ron protested, evidently alarmed by the writing. "I c-can't!"

Hermione took a closer look. The writing read;

"For the treasure you seek,

You cannot turn back,

Across the lake you must swim,

XIII seconds you have,

Or she will come."

Hermione glanced back at the lake wide eyed. If she had understood it correctly, Ron had thirteen seconds to swim across the massive lake. Ron was shaking, though he edged closer to the ledge, discarding his cloak.

"N-no! _Stop!_ " Hermione called after him. But it was no use. Ron's full body was engulfed by the water, causing Ron to cry out in agony. Wasting no time, however, Ron stroked towards the other side as Hermione counted cautiously.

3... 4... 5...

Ron wasn't anywhere near halfway across. The water was no longer still, and seemed to be throwing him off course as he swayed from side to side, gripping on to the water and trying to swim in a straight path.

7... 8...9...

The water was still thrashing him from side to side, although he was just past half way. He wasn't going to make it.

10... 11... 12...

Ron swam swiftly, the edge of the lake appearing closer, but-

Hermione screamed. Harry gripped onto her arm, and was gripping on to Ginny at the same time. A green skinned, long haired woman materialised from the lake. Though this didn't just look like a woman - the face was skeletal. A dress the same colour as the rest of her trailed across the lake as she glided towards Ron. She held something in her hand as she smiled wickedly down at him. Hermione let out a small cry. It was the same cloak that Ron had left on the other side of the lake.

The shock of realisation hit her. " _No!_ " she groaned. Ron was going to die. But he wasn't, was he? _He's safe now_ Hermione reminded herself, although this did little to calm her nerves. The woman was still gliding towards Ron, who had made it out of the lake, shakily reaching for his wand. Hermione and the others found themselves transported beside him so that they were closer to the scene.

The grey woman began to wail, clutching Ron's cloak. Ron shot several different colours of lights at her, uttering several spells in quick succession, but to no avail. Not for the first time did Hermione find herself wishing that Ron had paid attention in school. Ron collapsed, still gripping onto his wand, attempting to crawl away.

" _Expelus!_ " Ron's mouth was open, however it wasn't him that had uttered the curse. To Hermione's bewilderment, Draco Malfoy stood in front of Ron, his wand held at the creature. Everyone, including Hermione, Harry and Ginny, pressed their hands on their ears as a painful shriek ran through the cave before the woman shrank into nothing.

Ron was breathing heavily, looking up at his unlikely saviour. He didn't look surprised, or grateful, he just grumbled "took you long enough."

"Oh, don't thank me for saving your skin or anything, Weasley." Malfoy bit back sarcastically, surveying their surroundings and sweeping back his short blond hair.

"What's going on? Ginny whispered beside her. What was that thing? And what's Malfoy doing here?"

"A banshee." Hermione breathed. This was the second time she had ever felt gratitude to Draco Malfoy in her entire life. "And I don't know - shh..."

"You should have been watching." Ron snapped, getting to his feet and following Malfoy as he strode to the back wall of the cave, where a small pool lay amongst the rocks. Below this water, something familiar was glinting up at them. Hermione peered closer, then made an automatic grasp for her chest before realising that the locket was no longer there. A sinking feeling hit her as she remembered how they had been stripped of most of their possessions as they were captured.

Malfoy made to grasp for the object, but Ron grabbed his arm before he could. A scowl was shot at him, but Ron shook his head, then simply said "flesh memory."

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy growled impatiently.

"This locket connects the first two people to touch it. It can only be me and..." Ron trailed off, and a look of longing appeared.

Malfoy sniggered. "Is wittle Wonniekins missing his girlfriend?"

"Shut it, Malfoy." Ron snapped. "And she's my fiancée. Now step back and help me figure this out. I've got a feeling it's not going to be as easy as it looks."

Hermione expected Malfoy to argue, but he just smirked and watched as Ron made an unsuccessful attempt to pull the locket out from the water. It just slipped through his fingers as though it was a hologram.

" _Corpori_ " Ron said in quiet concentration, a violet steam of light shooting from his wand. He made a grasp for the locket again. Still nothing. Malfoy had stood up and was walking around the area, his attention seemed to focus on something that was glinting from the rocks from behind the pool of water.

"Wait- stop!" Malfoy called. Ron looked over at him hastily. "Don't try anything else."

Ron rose from the pool to join Malfoy's side as they both read something. Hermione couldn't see.

"Should have known." Ron sighed, lifting the glinting object. Hermione gasped and froze with fear. Ron held in his hand a sharp dagger.

"And what good do you think the blood of a blood traitor will do?" Malfoy growled. "Give it here, Weasley." he grabbed the dagger as they both edged closer to the small pool of water.

"I'm still a pureblood!" Ron retorted.

"It says _only the purest of blood_ " sneered Malfoy, drawing the dagger to his skin. "Do you think I _want_ to do this? Now - on my command, grab the locket, then we need to apparate straight away. Merlin only knows what will happen to the cave once we take the locket."

In quick succession, Malfoy sliced into his wrist and growled loudly, as Ron made a grab for the locket. The cave began to shake as the pair disappeared with a _crack_ , appearing again in front of a mass of rubble.

"Told you." Malfoy smirked, though he was still gripping his wrist which was bleeding wildly.

Ron grabbed his wand and grumbled "Vulnerio" at the gaping wound, as the blood lessened. At the second incantation, the wound closed up and at the third, the wound seemed to clear. Hermione recognised the spell as a modified version of the spell that Snape had cast on Malfoy. Harry had told her about it previously.

Taking a seat on a large rock next to Malfoy, Ron stared intently at the locket. Malfoy scurried to his feet to stare down at Ron.

"I'll leave you to it, traitor." Although at Malfoy's harsh words, Ron snorted and Malfoy disapparated. Alone now, Ron's triumphant gaze faded, and a look of worried anticipation replaced it. The scene faded again.

"Did you do it?" Malfoy was asking. They were in a dimly lit tavern, filled to the brim with muggles. Ron nodded, nudging over to Malfoy's side.

"I had to be careful not to be seen. But I posted it through the letter box. I.. s-saw her." Ron finished weakly. Hermione expected Malfoy to mock him again, but he looked quite serious. Ron continued. "She doesn't look right. Not herself - I can't-"

"Weasley." Malfoy interrupted, his preoccupied gaze fixed seriously on Ron. "My father has been released."

Ron's eyes widened. This clearly meant something to him - something that put Ron off the subject of Hermione's misery. Something that terrified him to his very core.

"So- so the Ministry have found an excuse?" Ron asked shakily.

Malfoy nodded.

"H-how?"

"I don't know." Malfoy replied to his incomplete question. "Hornrock, I suppose. He obviously can't carry on pretending that he's taking my father in for questioning all the time. He's been given a full pardon. Showed up at the Manor earlier."

"What did you do?" Ron asked wide eyed.

"Had to pretend I was happy, didn't I?" Malfoy sneered with disgust. "Had to pretend to be interested. I asked him a bunch of questions, but he wasn't giving anything away."

The pair sat in silence for a moment as Malfoy grasped onto his pint glass. His eyes appeared quite glazed now, and he croaked. "I need to earn his trust again. It's the only way."

Ron's face was scrunched, but he did not protest. It seemed that he quite agreed with Malfoy, although he didn't voice his opinion. He simply stood up quickly. "You can't be seen with me, then. If you need me, you know what to do."

Malfoy nodded, and Ron strode out of the pub without a backwards glance. The scene faded again.

Ron was sitting alone, leaning against a tree surrounded by woodlands. He looked lost in thought and his face was scrunched up again. He let out a breath, muttering something about a hat, and how he needed to get it before _they_ did.

"The hat..." Hermione turned to Harry. "Anala?"

Harry shrugged, though his worried gaze reflected Hermione's anxiety. Perhaps Hornrock wasn't sending them on a wild goose chase after all.

"It's in the Ministry..." Ron continued. "We need to get in-"

Ron appeared to be listening to something, but shook his head. "Too risky. I'll do it. "

It was then that Hermione put two and two together - he must be talking to Malfoy somehow. He was nowhere to be seen, however.

A crack behind them appeared to startle Ron. His wand held in front of him, he rushed to his feet and backed into the tree. A hissing noise was surrounding them now. Ron scrunched his eyes tight and disapparated.

It was dark now, and Ron was walking quietly down a near empty cobbled street, a vial of familiar looking potion held tightly in his hand. He was talking again.

"Are you sure? But how did you get- I see." He was saying. He glanced down wearily at the bottle he held in his hand. "He's out? Fine." Ron mumbled, disappearing out of sight around a dark corner for a second. Hermione, Harry and Ginny heard a spluttering sound and Hermione froze as Hornrock came out from the corner in Ron's place.

"How did they get the ingredients for Polyjuice potion?" Hermione heard Harry voice the very same question she had been asking herself.

"Malfoy Manor, I suspect." Hermione replied. Although this didn't answer their question fully. Hermione knew full well that in order to make Polyjuice potion, one must have some part of the person they want to turn into. The potion also took a month to brew. She had a feeling this memory was a bit on from when Ron and Malfoy had separated in the pub.

"I'm ready." Hornrock's gruff voice was saying as he disapparated, the apparation room in the Ministry of Magic forming before them.

~

They all watched as Hornrock - or _Ron_ , rather - followed the path through the Ministry as though he were headed to the Department of Aurors. With the bumpy appearance of Hornrock, Ron made a swift turn down a corridor that Hermione didn't recognise, but made her feel uneasy all the same. Gone was the impressive decoration of the Ministry, and Ron was leading them down a dank, greyed out corridor. A corridor which seemed to go on for miles. There were various twists and turns, and Hermione watched as Ron consulted a piece of parchment in front of him before making a turn. _Directions_ , Hermione concluded.

The passage was narrowing, and it was getting darker. Judging by the way the ground tilted, Ron was travelling deep underground. After what seemed like a good few hours, though, Ron came to a halt and drew his wand, keeping still.

"Who's there?" Ron asked, unable to keep the quiver from his voice. Hermione's stomach lurched.

There were three people surrounding him now.

"Enjoyable stroll, Weasley?" The tallest of them smirked. _Lucius Malfoy._ Despite the fact that his usually slick long hair near enough covered his entire face, Hermione would have recognised that evil smirk anywhere.

Ron seemed taken aback, but still held his wand steady. "Azkaban clearly hasn't agreed with you, Malfoy."

The two others scowled beside Malfoy, but Luicius simply chuckled. "You're one to talk. In love with a Mudbood? Typical blood traitor." Lucius spat.

Ron was shaking now, with rage. Before he could open his mouth to utter a curse, however, Malfoy had shot first. "Imperio!"

Hermione subconsciously gasped and gripped on to Harry's shoulder. She, Harry and Ginny watched in horror as Ron let out a loud swear word before doubling up in what sounded like pain.

Lucius stared expectantly with a questioning look. Clearly something had gone wrong. Ron was still writhing, though he seemed to be quickly gaining more control by the second.

"So, Weasley, immune to the Imperius curse are we? No matter." Luicius merely shrugged, sending an unexpected force of white hot anger pumping through Hermione's entire body. "Get him."

It happened too fast. Ron barely uttered "expel-" before he was grabbed from behind with a _crack_.

The scene faded again. Ron was in that familiar prison that Hermione had witnessed in her dreams and in person, however briefly. She felt a lump in her throat watching the person in front of her. It was evident that he had been here for quite some time. The all to familiar carvings looked fresh on his chest.

It took her a minute to realise that Ron was not alone. A hooded figure stood in front of him. Although he looked completely broken, he didn't look worried.

"You sent her the locket? And the note?" Ron was asking. His voice sounded crackly though.

The second voice brought Hermione to understand the hushed conversation. "Yes, and the hat has been hidden."

"Not destroyed?" Ron sounded bitter now.

"You don't think I tried that, Weasley?" Malfoy bit back. "I tried everything. Venom, curses, even feindfyre. It's not working."

Ron let out a frustrated growl. "Just... make sure Hermione is safe. But stay out of sight. They can't know what's going on. I need to protect them."

Malfoy rolled his eyes impatiently. "Wouldn't your little entourage be useful, considering your situation?" He looked pointedly at Ron's bindings, but Ron shook his head.

"I don't want to put my friends and family in danger. Some of them work for the Ministry. As soon as Hornrock suspects their involvement, they are in danger."

"Yet you had me send Hermione your note with the locket?" Malfoy sounded perplexed. "You don't think she should know what it does?"

Ron made to talk, but he could hear voices. To Hermione's surprise, he let out a shriek of intense pain, though it didn't quite seem to reach his eyes. Malfoy quickly raised his wand towards Ron, scowling.

"Draco." The voice from behind him seemed to send a chill down Draco's spine.

"Yes, father?" Malfoy kept his gaze on Ron.

"That will be all. Did you get any information from him?"

A look of terror dawned on Draco's face as Lucius fixed his eyes on him. "He won't talk." His voice was a little shaky now.

Lucius steadied his gaze on his son. "Return to the manor. I will deal with you later."

Draco, out of Lucius's sight, set Ron a sincerely apologetic and fearful gaze before walking out of the room.

Lucius smirked, raising his wand. "Well, Weasley, I always say that if you want something done right you must do it yourself. Ready to talk?"

Ron's pained expression faded before them as the scene faded to Ron and Malfoy streaking down the corridors, Ginny gripped on to her brother's hand. Of course, this was the night they escaped. The trio were about to exit through the door that led into the church area, when Ron heard a scream. Hermione's scream. She watched as his usually pale face flushed whiter still.

"Take Ginny and get out of here." Ron let go of Ginny's hand, shoving her towards Malfoy, perhaps rougher than he had meant to. He didn't stop to apologise, though. Ron fled in the opposite direction without hesitation.

This time, the scene began to fade materialising them into the bedroom that they had been standing in the whole time. The Burrow. As much as questions still needed to be answered, Hermione gazed at Ron.

Why didn't he trust her? She could have helped. She could have been there with him. She couldn't help but feel a little betrayed and disappointed. Ron was still staring out the window, perched on the ledge. Before she could say anything though, she heard Ginny let out a low growl, clutching on to her stomach and collapsing.

~

It had all been quite a blur. Hermione surveyed the room around her, where all the Weasleys were present. Ron sat next to her with his eyes drooping, and she was grasping onto his hand gently, stroking his knuckles with her thumb; all thoughts of betrayal forgotten for now. She was here for Ron.

Ron stood pale faced and brow furrowed beside Hermione. Excitement had died down several hours ago, and now the Weasley family were nervous wrecks, Hermione included.

Approximately fifteen hours had passed. Ron looked about to pass out. He was shaking.

" _Ron_ ", Hermione whispered, nudging his shoulder gently.

Ron barely stirred on her shoulder. "'m jst resting m'eyes" he mumbled, burrowing his head deeper.

"Yes, I know. You need a bed." Hermione frowned.

"No- Ginny..." Ron began, but Hermione was pulling him to his feet gently, and he hardly had the strength to finish his sentence before Hermione was saying her goodbyes to the Weasley family, Molly pulling them both into a warm hug and promising she would send her patronus as soon as there was news.

The Healer in charge of the maternity ward at St Mungoes was a plump witch by the name of Hilda. Hermione had greeted her earlier and engaged in a conversation about house elf rights, where Hermione had reminisced about S.P.E.W and the memory of Hermione and Ron's first kiss. Hilda was only three years younger than Hermione, but there was still a certain innocence about her that made Hermione feel so much older. Hermione flashed her a smile as she and Ron made their way to the Floo network set up near the hospital exit.

Ron practically fell into bed once they got home, snoring loudly as soon as he hit the mattress. Hermione let out a quiet chuckle. Truth be told, the locket was the furthest from her mind at that moment, but it quickly became the focus of her thoughts as soon as she had a moment to think about things, settled into bed beside Ron but far from tired.

Yes, Ginny was her family. Without a doubt. This was an important time, not only for Ron, but for Hermione too. But the locket was unsettling her. Could they really put it off for much longer? There was obviously something big going on. Something that had to be dealt with immediately.

Of course, she still had no idea what was inside the locket. Ron had said not to open it until she had found him, hadn't he? And there was still the matter of once again going against the Ministry. Just how many people were working with Hornrock, and what were they up to?

Ron shuffled beside her, mumbling something about pain. Hermione's brows furrowed as a guilty pang crossed her chest. Should she wake him? He needed sleep, and he wasn't thrashing about, but clearly his dream was far from pleasant. Rather quickly, however, Ron settled, snoring loudly once again.

It was funny; Hermione used to complain about Ron's snoring, but once he went missing she would have done anything to hear the sound again. She couldn't really have held her grudge about Ron keeping her in the dark about everything for long, even without Ginny distracting them from everything. They had lost far too much time already.

Then there was the fact that Ron still wasn't fully stable. He clearly had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

 _Tomorrow_ , Hermione promised herself, _we'll talk about it tomorrow._ Hornrock, after all, was unlikely to wait until a convenient time to carry out his plan, whatever it was, and someone had to stop it. Even if Ron and Harry couldn't be there. Hermione would stop him.

_"You think so, Granger?" Hornrock snorted from in front of her. They were standing in a dark room again. She had seen this room far too many times._

_"This isn't real." Hermione attempted to poise herself, but her sentence came out rather shakily and her body was trembling. It was cold. Freezing, actually._

_The clothes draped on her were ruined. Torn. Much like the rags they had found Ron in._

_Hornrock just snorted, but circled around her, grinning widely. It was possibly one of the creepiest facial expressions that Hermione had ever witnessed, and that included those of You-Know-Who in his reign of terror._

_"I'm real, Granger." A wicked laugh drew from his dry and cracked lips. "We are, however, inside your pretty little head." Hermione flinched, but Hornrock continued unfaltering. "I expect I will be seeing you soon."_

With that, Hermione shot upwards, her heart beating at a dangerously fast pace. She patted the bed beside her, before her hand fell on Ron's shoulder. He was still there. Something was amiss though. Her gut was twisting. Something was very, very wrong.

~

It was still the middle of the night. Hermione could tell simply from glancing out at the window. She looked down at Ron once more, and Hermione's instinct was screaming at her - but she couldn't understand it. She examined her arms carefully, the hairs raised by goosebumps dotted all over. It wasn't just a nightmare - she knew that much at least. Harry had taught her that lesson back when he frequently had guest appearances in his dream from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. _Voldemort_ , Hermione corrected herself. She had to stop fearing the name - after all, wasn't that one of the reasons Voldemort had managed to make himself so powerful? It had certainly worked to his advantage in tracking down herself, Ron and Harry.

Moving to touch Ron's shoulder, Hermione leaned a little closer, but Ron awoke with a start, screaming horsely.

"Shh, shh" Hermione crooned, pulling Ron into her arms and rubbing gentle circles on his shoulder. "It was only a dream."

"n-no. No!" Ron stuttered, then shouted, gripping back on the sleeve of Hermione's tshirt. "I-I... H-he... Hecate!"

That was new.

However, Hermione didn't ask. She did make a mental note to return to the subject, but for now she had to calm Ron down, who was now rocking back and forth, his grip tightening a little painfully on Hermione. She winced, but didn't complain. Ron noticed though, and glanced at her apologetically, removing his hand. Hermione's arm felt a little cold from the loss of touch.

The couple sat in silence for a few hours, Ron's breathing evening out, as he gripped onto the covers instead.

"Something's wrong." Ron broke the silence after a few minutes. "Hermione, I- oh god, we need to go!"

Hermione turned to face her fiancee, examining his face. He was pale white, his eyes widened in sheer horror and his breathing was quickly approaching abnormal levels again. Had he had the same dream that she had?

"Ron... please breathe," Hermione frowned, nudging herself closer to him and taking his hand in her own. Ron closed his hand over hers, lighter this time, free of force. He steadied his breathing once more, then their eyes locked together in a moment of silent understanding.

"I-I... Hermione, w-we need to..." Ron's forehead crinkled as he removed his eyes from hers, darting them around the room quickly. "We need to talk."

Hermione nodded, but said nothing, allowing him to continue. Ron sucked in a breath, then turned back to her.

"You need to understand. It's been fuzzy. I-I... I've had the knowledge, but it's been locked down. B-but... something's happened, Hermione. Something bad." Ron was struggling, but feirce determination was locked in his expression, and it was clear that whatever this was couldn't wait any longer. He let out a long breath, burying his face in his hands, then continued. "I couldn't remember. But... I remember everything now."

_Three years ago..._

He was running for his life, his red and gold cloak flapping wildly behind him. He couldn't return home, couldn't warn Hermione for fear of being intercepted, and anyone he told would be in danger. He couldn't risk his loved ones. Especially his fiancee. It was his job to keep her safe, and she would be hunted if she knew anything. It was for the best.

Hornrock had called him into his office. He was fairly new, but he seemed to know what he was doing. Ron could never figure the man out. He reminded him a lot of Mad Eye Moody - or at least the imposter Moody from Hogwarts. In hindsight, it was almost comical, given what he'd found out earlier that day.

It was absolute dumb luck and timing that started it all. He was early to meet Hornrock - he knew he was - but he figured that if he could ask to meet the man earlier, he would be able to get his work done quicker, and get home to Hermione. They had planned a night in - something that they rarely got to do nowadays. Of course, that plan was buggered now.

Ron found Hornrock in his office, his wand held aloft, and a vacant expression in his eyes. His ministry robe was rumpled, and his usual grim espression seemed preoccupied with something. Ron tried to talk to the man, but Hornrock hadn't noticed him, his focus instead on a deep booming voice which Ron could hear ringing throughout the room, but there was no one else here. He was sure he had heard the voice before.

"The Potter boy cannot know. No one can." The voice spoke with supreme authority. "Yerick, you must get the hat. Get the hat and we will have her power."

_Her? Yerick?_

"But, sir..." Hornrock sounded as though he was grovelling. Ron was taken back to Peter Pettigrew begging for his life - _I was such a good pet_. He quickly focused back on Hornrock. Whatever this was, it didn't sound good. "If we lift the hat from the Ministry, it's absence will be noticed. Perhaps we should leave it there for the time being."

"Very well Yerick. Just know this - Hecate is a powerful being. She cannot find out what our plans are. Potter and his friends brought an end to my master - you must keep a close eye on them. Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. If they so much as find out a snippet of the plan, bring them to me - do you understand?" the voice asked with urgency. "I've set a trace on their wands. Any suspicious magic, and you will be alerted by patronus immediately."

Hornrock, or Yerick, swallowed, gazing up at the ceiling. "Yes, my lord."

"Good," the voice spoke again. "Good. Now, remember everything I taught you. I was the Dark Lord's most loyal servant after all."

 _Fuck_.

It was Barty Crouch Jr. Of course it was. How could he forget that voice? Ron's insides were threatening to explode his entire body, and his heart was hammering. Something big was going down. Something very bad.

"Yes, my lord." Yerick repeated.

"Hecate must be called first, Yerick. Only then can we weaken her to gain access to her powers. The hat will do both. When you find Hecate's Horn, bring it to me, along with the hat."

"The horn, master?" Yerick asked, his voice trembling.

"The horn, Yerick," the voice echoed. "The horn will summon her. There's a locket - hidden somewhere near Hogsmeade. A cave, I'm told. The horn is in there. But do not touch the locket, Yerick. It will connect whoever touches it with Hecate, and connects the first two people to touch it to each other. If this happens, Hecate will be harder to track, hidden in the connection of the other two who touch it. If you touch it, Yerick, and then someone else does, you will be connected to them for life. Your thoughts and feelings will be shared with the other, as long as one knows how to master the power."

"I don't understand, My Lord."

"As you know, Yerick, Hecate is the Goddess of Witchcraft. She holds more power than any wizard or witch could ever dream of. With it, we can restore my master to his former glory. He can use the power to gain control of the wizarding world, and be rid of all who once opposed him forevermore. Of course, the Potter boy and his friends must suffer first. They caused all this. But I digress - Hecate's Horn will summon her to us, and the wearer of the hat will be able to drain her power from her. That will be me."

Ron shuddered.

"Once I've drained the power, I can use it to bring The Dark Lord back to full power, transferring the hat to him and draining myself."

"But, my lord, you won't survive-"

"No, I won't. I will die, but I will die reaffirming myself as the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. Loyal until the last breath, Yerick. He will know of my deeds, my scheeming and my sacrafice, and know that I was the best. A legend amongst the Death Eaters."

Ron and Yerick both stood silently, their expressions matched in a look of absolute terror.

"Now, Yerick. Until next time." The voice spoke once more, then Yerick collapsed.

Which took Ron back to why he was running for his life. He hadn't stayed a moment more, hadn't even checked to see if Yerick was still concious, or even if he had noticed Ron's presence. He had to stop Voldemort from being brought back.

It was _insane_. A Goddess with enough power to bring people back from the dead? And not just anyone, the one being that everyone in the Wizarding Word feared above all - Lord Voldemort. The Lord Voldemort that Harry, Hermione and himself had risked _everything_ to stop from taking over last time. They had put an end to his reign of terror, and the Wizarding World had been free once more. Ron couldn't allow that to have been all for _nothing_.

So Ron ran. Deep into the forest. Covering his tracks as best as he could. He went on for days, having absolutely no idea where he was running to or how to get back the way he came - he had taken so many twists and turns.

It was a few weeks before he ran into any sign of life. He only noticed the cloak at first - emerald green, the face was difficult to make out until he had gotten closer, and Ron noticed the pale complexion and familiar blond locks. The last person he was expecting to see - Draco Malfoy, who was running frantically through the forest too, not even noticing Ron until he stood before him, wand held in front of his face.

"Going somewhere, Malfoy?" Ron enquired, mistrusting. This was, after all, the boy who had made an admittidly terrible attempt at being a Death Eater.

"Weasly." Draco's voice took Ron by surprise. It wasn't with the usual malice that usually came from the boy he knew in school. He seemed... different. Off. He stepped closer to Ron. "What- where-" was all he got out before he fell to the forest floor with a flutter.

Against his better judgement, Ron ran towards Malfoy, grasping onto his arm.

It wasn't until a few hours later that Malfoy started to stir. Ron had considered using a binding charm on him, until he had remembered about the trace on his wand. Surely the Ministry was on to him by now. They could have sent Malfoy. There was no doubt that Draco's father, Lucius, would have some hand on this. Yet, Malfoy had looked panicked. He had seemed distracted.

"Going to tell me what that was about, Malfoy?" Ron asked, barely waiting for Malfoy to wake up properly. Eager to find out his motives.

"What's it got to do with you, Weasley?" But the drawl was still absent. It was almost half-hearted. He had attempted at a hardened expression though. It was almost convincing, but not up to his usual standards.

"Way I see it," Ron began, rising to his feet so that he was standing in front of the blond man, folding his arms and leering at him. "you're in the middle of the forest, running around like a mad man. You're up to something, Malfoy. Now spill."

"I-" Malfoy's expression faltered, and his gaze softened. He raised himself to meet Ron in height. Then he sighed. It was such a peculiar thing to see Malfoy do, that Ron was once again taken aback. "I'm running. I swear, Weasley, if anyone finds out you ran into me, you're dead. Now good day."

He made to move, but Ron gripped his arm again, holding him back easily. When was the last time he'd eaten? Malfoy looked thinner than ever, and as Ron took a closer look at him, he noticed that the man looked utterly disheveled. His cloak was rumpled, his hair was pointed in all different directions, and his face was smeared with dirt - as though he hadn't washed in weeks. Of course, that could be true.

"Not so fast," Ron growled. "What do you know, Malfoy?"

"What do I-" Malfoy began, then snapped round and scoweled, looking much more like himself. "What do _you_ know, Weasley?"

The two men were locked in what seemed to be a staring contest, waiting until the other cracked. The only noises were the noises of the forest - the birds tweeting and singing, the buzz of insects and the flowing of the river. Ron had been tracking the river for days, just seeing where it led him. He knew that he had to go to Hogsmeade, but he had to find out where he was, first. He considered that perhaps Malfoy knew.

"The hat, the horn and the Goddess - you know about them, Malfoy?" Maybe it was stupid to give himself away, but he was getting nowhere wandering the forest by himself.

Malfoy blanched at the words. He stayed silent for a little bit, seemingly collecting his thoughts before replying with a weak " _yes_." Just like that, the veil was lifted. Malfoy met Ron's expression, all business now. "They want to bring back You-Know-Who. He wants my family dead. Father doesn't care. He thinks that if he helps, he'll be absolved. My mum and me?" Draco snorted humourlessly, "We'll be killed, and my father couldn't give a fuck." His words were coming out in a growl now, pent up anger escaping in the form of his words. "And it's not just us. He'll kill you. He'll kill your little friends. We're all fucked."

So that was how he ended up working with Malfoy. After Ron had explained his side of the story, they had decided it was better to work together. It wasn't that he trusted him, per se. He knew fully well that in a life or death situation, Malfoy wasn't to be counted on to risk his life to save anyone else's. No, this was mutual interest. And of course, Malfoy had a wand that they could use.

_Now_

"So... the locket." Hermione began.

"Ohfuck," Ron blurted, burying his face in his hands again. "The locket. They've opened it, 'mione. I can feel it." His voice was strained.

Hermione felt a chill run down her back, and she stiffened. "But... you said the locket was connected to me, too, yes?"

"Didn't you feel it?" Ron asked, eyes red and raw looking up at her from between his fingers.

"I-"... but she _had_. Of course she had. Hadn't she been jolted awake just like Ron? And her dream. Oh, yes. Her dream. But something else was niggling her. Something more urgent. "But, Barty Crouch Jr is-"

"-gone. Yeah, I know. Malfoy explained it - whatever it is, it's a Rakshasa. Lucius is behind it all. Malfoy told me that his father tried to get him to join them in their plans, but he- he's different, Hermione. I wouldn't exactly call him trustworthy, but he's matured." Ron paused, considering his next words carefully. "It took a long time for me to see that, but he had. He risked himself time and time again to help me. Of course, his motives aren't selfish. We're not exactly the best of friends, but... it was good, you know? Having someone to help me. I don't think I would have been able to do it all myself. Not without Malfoy. Especially not without his connections."

"His father." Hermione stated. "Wait- a Rakshasa? From the Hindu legends? That's just mythology, isn't it? A shapeshifting deamon?"

Ron shook his head. "Apparently not. Lucius summoned it, the stupid git, after convincing Hornrock - or Yerick - to let him return to the manor under the pretense of taking him in for questioning. The Rakshasa impersonated Barty Crouch Jr, posing as the brains of the operation - even to Hornrock. Imprisoned it to do his bidding. He's behind the entire thing. But no one knew except Draco. Draco witnessed it first hand. He was out of sight, though. Hiding in the manor. That's when Draco found out what was going on - the whole plan, and Lucius tried to induct him, but he bolted.

"But... Lucius trusted him, didn't he? He was there, in Dirkstone, posing as one of _them_." Hermione winced, remembering the broken and battered appearence of her fiancee that greeted her in Dirkstone. "And he was sent to interrogate you?"

"Yeah, that... that happened later. You need to understand, though, Hermione... time moved-" he paused, considered the word, then continued; "-different. Time moved different. We had lost track of it completely. We came up with a plan - Malfoy agreed to return to his father to be our... double agent, I suppose. We set a communication charm - kind of like a radio inside our heads. Like one of those... fellytone things that Harry used, remember?" Hermione would have been amused by the misprononciation, but the grim tone of the conversation killed any hilarity within. "He had to grovel." Ron contunued, "He- he was beaten within an inch of his life. But it worked. His father was convinced of his loyalty to the cause. We used him to get more information, but it wasn't much. They had no idea where the locket was until one day," Ron looked at Hermione apologetically, "one day Yerick saw it on you. Posing as Hornrock. You never knew the real Hornrock, I'm not even sure if he existed myself. This was after I was captured. Malfoy told me breifly that they had suspected it was the right one - but they wouldn't try to take it from you until they were ready for the ritual. But... you found us... and they have the locket, Hermione, we need to _do something_ " Ron finished with urgency.

"But - Malfoy said the hat was hidden. How do they have it now?"

"I don't know," Ron faltered, thinking to himself. "Draco must have cracked. Or they've found wherever he had hidden it. I have no idea where it was. He never got around to telling me. After I was captured at the Ministry, Draco snuck in after me, stole the hat, and escaped undetected - they were too distracted with my capture, I suspect."

Hermione nodded. She had heard enough. They needed to do something, and they needed to do it fast. She scrambled to her feet, pulling Ron beside her. "We need to get a wand. One that isn't being traced."

"Malfoy's is out. I have no idea where he is." Ron spoke, frowning.

"They took the ones we had when we were captured," Hermione sighed, "but- they won't be tracking your family, right? Just us?"

"I don't think so," Ron replied, his expression pensive, "But there's no telling who they're tracking and who they're not. We need to find another way."

"Without wands?" Hermione asked inquisitively.

Ron smirked. "I learned something while I was wandering around the forest with Malfoy without being able to use my own wand. Look-" Ron held his hand over Hermione's so that there was a centimetre of a distance between them, and there was a quick flash of light, sending a soft breeze fluttering across her hand. She gazed at him in astonishment. "It's elemental magic. Ancient. Apsara passed the ability to me."

"Apsara?"

"She's a spirit. Of the clouds and water. More Hindu folklore. She awoke at the same time as the Rakshasa. She never explained why, only that she knew it was time to wake up and that she was needed. Apparently she had been drawn to us. Knew we were trying to stop it. So she revealed herself, telling us that she couldn't use her powers against the Rakshasa, but maybe I could use them? I don't know. She was... vague. Said I'd need assistance, but I'd _'find a way'_. Next thing I knew I was unconcious on the forest floor, then woke up to Malfoy shaking me. And I just - I could feel her power. Never really got to use it much, though. It wasn't long before I was locked up, and they modefied my memories. I- I didn't even remember they were there. I didn't even remember them until now. I don't know how they'll help, I don't even really know what they do - I know I can control the elements, but I don't know how it'll help."

"It's all we've got, Ron." Hermione replied, grasping his hand. "I've heard enough. We need to go, _now_. We'll stop this."

"Or die trying," Ron remarked with a grimace.

Hermione just nodded shakily.Ron surveyed the dark stone-clad room around him in horror – bodies from left to right, slaughtered like lambs and draped across the floor, blood splattered on the walls and right in the centre of it all was Hermione, still as a statue, arms reaching towards Ron and mouth frozen mid-shout, and colour completely drained from her entire being - crystallised.

" _No..._ " Ron whispered, the words scratching the back of his throat.

' _I can help' t_ he voice rung out from inside his head.

He had been startled when he had first heard it earlier on, but it came as no surprise now, and Ron was too busy focused on Hermione's fixed state.

' _Ronald – let me be clear. Only I can help. This is no normal petrification.'_

He knew that. Of course he knew that. But he, too, felt frozen to the spot, his arms mirroring Hermione's, reaching out to her but not quite touching her for fear of shattering her. He considered the voice – the help being offered. She didn't have long left – he had to work fast.

As though from nowhere, a blue wisp circled him in a comforting gesture, making his speeding heard slow ever so slightly, and easing some tension from his shoulders.

"What do I have to do?" Ron choked weakly.

* * *

_**Two Hours Ago...** _

They had flown to Dirkstone. Either Ron's new magic couldn't apparate them, or he hadn't quite figured out how. He had managed, however, to speed up the wind surrounding them, carrying them faster towards the small town in the dark night sky, glittered with stars covered with darkly ominous clouds.

Hermione gripped onto Ron's side, her eyes squeezed tight. She had never been much of a flier. Ron, on the other hand, revelled in it, gripping tighter onto the handle, leaning forward for acceleration. He heard a feminine whimper from Hermione's direction, but no words of complaint.

As they lowered themselves to the ground, Hermione stepped from the broom shakily, staring up at the church, clutching onto Ron's hand for balance. "I hate flying," Hermione whispered. Ron nodded, squeezing her hand back; hoping his gesture of comfort had been received as such. Hermione's frown settled to an uneasy smile.

"Ready?" Ron asked, furrowing his brow, eyes wrapt on the door ahead of them, moving to step inside.

"Wait," Hermione pulled at Ron's hand, knocking him back towards her, bumping their bodies together ever so slightly. Both their hands were connected now, and Hermione closed the distance between their lips, enveloping Ron in a soft, sensual kiss, her lips sucking ever so slightly at his bottom lip, their tongues dancing with each other. As they parted, Hermione squeezed both his hands with hers again before letting go and smiling softly. "For good luck."

They stood side by side for a moment, taking in the cold night air before they disappeared beyond. Really, they both know this was suicide. He had tried to talk Hermione out of coming - several times, but his attempts were half hearted. He knew that there was no way Hermione was letting him go alone, and truth be told, he knew he wouldn't be able to get through this ordeal without her. Hermione Granger is, and always was, a force to be reckoned with. He heard Hermione suck in a breath at his right, as though preparing herself.

Ron shuddered as the couple trod along the dank passageways of the church, pausing every so often as a scutter or a clatter came from somewhere else in the church, echoing so that it sounded as though it were nearby. Aimlessly, they tore along, left and right, looking for a hidden passage, or a sign of life. It wasn't until they heard a deafening bang ring out throughout the stone passageways that they had any clue of a direction in which to travel.

"It came from below. We need to find stairs." Hermione was telling him as they marched hastily back through the door of the room that they had just entered – another dead end. Just an empty room this time - Ron found himself wondering what it was even doing there.

It was then he had started to hear the voice.

' _The passage you seek is below'._

"Wait, what?"

They had both stopped in their tracks, Hermione visually examining Ron as though he had said something mental. "I... Ron, I didn't say anything." Her eyes were large – she looked absolutely terrified.

"I- no, not you. You- you didn't hear that?" Ron spluttered, glancing around frantically.

' _She cannot hear you, Ronald. I am inside your head.'_

Then it clicked. This voice wasn't unfamiliar – he couldn't believe that he didn't recognise it at first. It was unlike anything he'd ever heard in his life – childish, yet ancient. Mystic.

"Apsara?"

Hermione took a step back, a look of bewilderment evident on her face. She was no longer looking at Ron; her eyes were completely focused on a glowing... something, that Ron could only see from the corner of his eyes.

* * *

_**Now...** _

_I can attempt to bring her back. But..._ the voice paused, considering. Apsara's light dimmed a little, coming to rest at Ron's side. _I am afraid that I cannot guarantee her safety. If it is Nature's will to take her, then that must be carried through. She will be taken to the afterlife._

The lump in Ron's throat was stinging; his damp eyes a dark shade of red. His chest felt as though it was tightening inch by inch, threatening to suffocate him or crush his insides. "And if you don't do the spell?"

Another pause - this one much longer than the last. After a considerable amount of time, Apsara broke the silence.

' _She will be like this forever.'_

The dim wispy form rose again, floating to the crystal-like form of Hermione, circling her as though she were an exhibit.

' _She will not age. She will not die. She will be forever frozen in time, yet forever conscious and aware of time around her. Tell me, do you not wish for what is best for her?'_

Ron collapsed against the wall behind him, sinking to the floor and burying his head in his hands. "What are the chances of her not pulling through if we do this?"

' _I cannot say. There is no way to determine this. The spell has only been attempted twice before – it requires a very rare ingredient. A sacrifice.'_

* * *

_**An Hour Ago...** _

The wisp was circling them both, growing brightly. It didn't seem to be harmful. Still, it was unsettling none the less. Ron and Hermione edged a little closer, not daring to take their eyes away from it.

"Apsara?" Hermione spoke first, to Ron's surprise. "Is that you?" She whispered.

' _She cannot hear me child. But yes, it is I. I do not have long on this realm, so you must listen to me closely Ronald Weasley '_

Hermione, seemingly giving up on getting an answer, settled at sending Ron a questioning glance.

' _The passage you seek is in this room. You can use the magic that I have passed to you in order to break through the spell of deceit. It is the magic of Akasha – it allows you to channel the five elements – my own element, Water, as well as Earth, Air, Fire and Spirit. Spirit will lead you to where you need to go.'_

"What's she saying, Ron?" Hermione burst out uncontrollably, her shoulders drawn in tight, full of tension. She seemed just as surpised as Ron at her outburst. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" she sighed. "We don't have a lot of time here, if what we have to go by means anything."

Ron sent an acknowledging nod Hermione's way, and then turned back to the sky blue wisp and asked; "How do I do it, then? How do I... er, channel Spirit?"

"Ronald Weasley! Are you listening to me?!" Hermione was shaking his arm now, looking as though she had lost all patience with the situation. "Will you answer me?"

"I- she said I can channel Spirit. And... and that the entrance to wherever the Death Eaters are."

' _Enough! Close your eyes. Will the room away with your thoughts. Allow Spirit to guide you – to allow you to see what is beyond the veil of reality.'_

Scrunching his eyes shut tightly, Ron thought about the room around him. How was he meant to get it to go away? Could he really take control of the elements? Or was Apsara just expecting far too much of him?

' _Draw Spirit in, Ronald. Concentrate.'_

He had no idea what she meant. He was concentrating as hard as he could. It wasn't Ron's fault that Spirit was a no show. He thought to tell Apsara so, but he was pretty sure there was no need – she was inside his head after all – surely she could read his thoughts? That should be unsettling, but Ron figured by this point that he was hardly shaken by anything. He just wanted to burst through the veil. He wanted to stop the Death Eaters – stop Voldemort from rising. He wanted to stop people from having to lose their friends and family to the war that comes with him. Most of all, he thought, he wanted to keep Hermione safe, and what was left of his family – in blood and in bond, for Harry was never just Ron's friend – he was his comrade, his brother.

A blinding purple presence emerged from the centre of the bare room, illuminating the dimness and stinging Ron's eyes. He shielded them with his hands and squeezed them together tighter, hoping that Hermione had been quick enough to do the same.

When he opened his eyes, it was completely different. He was no longer standing in an empty room. Instead, he was standing in a larger chamber filled with cloaked figures. Hermione stood beside him, lowering her hands from her eyes. At the centre of the room were the beings pretending to be Hornrock and Barty Crouch Jr. They hadn't noticed Ron and Hermione yet, thankfully.

Ron's attention was drawn to a taller figure – long hair, blue eyes and... extremely pale. Inhumanly pale. She looked as though she was made out of crystal – yet she had a presence. A powerful one.

"Is that-?" Hermione questioned glancing at Ron.

Ron was struggling to find words. The woman was bound but she wasn't struggling. She didn't seem to be able to struggle. Her long robe was draped below her knees, moving in rhythm with the breeze running through the room. There was something otherworldly about her. Whatever she was, she definitely wasn't human – Ron could tell all of this at a glance, and judging by the gaping expression on Hermione's face, she had already figured it out.

' _Hecate,'_ echoed Apsara's voice. ' _She has been crystalised. Do not touch her.'_

"They're using her magic!" Ron heard Hermione shriek from his left.

She was right. Fake-Hornrock and Fake-Barty Crouch Jr had their wands held, pointed towards the goddess, illuminating the entire room with a faint green light unlike Ron had ever seen. His eyes widened at the sight – Hecate was unmoving, but he could see her power swirling around her, all shades of reds, pinks, purples, yellows and more encircling her body.

Hermione's face was set – determined now. She stepped beside Ron, clutching his hand once more, and looking deep into his eyes. "I- I can stop this, Ron."

Ron blanched. Something about the look in her eyes was apologetic – and he really didn't like what that meant.

"I've read all about ancient magic – she's under a Cystalisation curse. Powerfu l magic." Hermione was staring at Hecate in awe. "It shouldn't be possible. But... but with the hat..."

"The Hat of Anara?"

Hermione nodded.

"Yes. It's letting them control her power, and it's letting them trap her. I... i-if I can get the hat, I can decrystalise her."

She was avoiding Ron's eyes now. Ron took a closer look at her. He could see by her expression that she was hiding something. Her lips were tight, and her forehead was creased.

"There's a 'but' here, isn't there?" Ron asked flatly.

Hermione sucked in a breath, then continued quickly as though speaking faster would have lessened the impact of her words. "I need to take on the curse. It's the only way. The only way the curse can be destroyed... well, we don't have the ingredients necessary, and it needs to be done now."

"Hermione, _no!"_ Ron grabbed her arm, locking his gaze on hers. "No, we'll find another way."

Hermione palmed the side of his face, before settling a soft kiss on his lips, savouring it as though it would be their last. Without another word, she moved towards the crowd of death eaters, both the Hornrock and Barty Crouch Jr impostors turning to her now, startled.

Time seemed to slow – Ron made to move towards Hermione, but he was held back by several cloaked figures, who were pulling him back, one with his wand held to Ron's throat. Ron shut his eyes, feeling the elements bubble up inside him, threatening to combust inside his body. He barely even noticed when his body flashed a bright mix of colours – blue, red, green, yellow and purple, blasting his attackers out of the way.

When he opened his eyes, he hadn't been prepared for the horrific sight that lay before him. All the Death Eaters, including Hornrock, or Yerick, and the shape shifter lay still on the floor, covered in their own blood just like the rest of the bodies.

Hecate was staring at Hermione. Her skin was still inhumanly pale, but he noticed that her long hair was black, and her robe a dark navy blue.

"Help her!" Ron screeched at the goddess, making a move to run towards them, but Hecate held up her hands, her blue eyes flashing as she stopped Ron in his tracks – his body locking up and unwilling to move. "W-what?"

The goddess looked apologetic at least. She eyed Ron with careful consideration, her head bowing slightly towards him. "I'm sorry... I- I can't. My power can't help her. "

"She used the hat. Give me the hat! I'll take her place!" Ron roared, attempting his will to get his feet to carry him towards them.

Hecate frowned, moving towards Ron now. "I'm sorry my child. The power has been used up. Miss Granger used the last of it to free me. I will forever be in her debt, but I'm afraid she cannot be healed by any magic that you will be able to obtain. You would need to find a magical spirit willing to give themselves up for your cause."

"She _saved_ you!"

"I will forever remember her. She saved many lives. The Death Eaters were seconds away from reincarnating their master using my magic." Hecate bowed her head once more at him, before fading away before his eyes.

* * *

_**Now...** _

Apsara was moving towards Hermione, her entire being glowing brighter than Ron had seen it thus far. She illuminated Hermione, a bright light enveloping her, before Ron felt himself sink to the floor, his vision fading to black.

_It was dark. He couldn't see a thing but the clear blue figure that was standing before him now. It was a woman. She looked as though she was made out of water, and Ron was sure that if he touched her, she would splash out onto the floor. He felt himself drawn towards her though. He was sure he recognised her, but it wasn't until she spoke that it became clear._

" _Thank you Ronald, she is safe now."_

" _Apsara?" Ron squinted at the woman._

_She smiled gently. Her full form was quite beautiful, if rather untouchable._

" _I suppose this is what humans call goodbye."_

Just like that, the blackness was lifted, and Ron felt his body being shook vigorously. "Ron! Ron! Wake up!" Hermione was crying hysterically, gripping onto his robe.

"Hermione... w-what... I-"

"You're okay!" The relief in her voice could not be mistaken for anything else. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.

"I'm okay," Ron echoed, gripping back just as tight. "We're both okay."

"Apsara... I saw her come towards me. I could see everything. What happened?"

"She... she's gone." Ron murmured into Hermione's hair, tears stinging his eyes. "She gave her life to save you."

" _No!_ " Hermione whispered, horror etched in her words. She sunk to her knees, Ron mirroring her, still gripping her tight.

"She was dying, Hermione. She said it herself. She was not long for this world. She had used up her powers transferring them to me already, and she was fading away." Ron wrapped his arms tighter around her, attempting to comfort her as she sobbed uncontrollably on his shoulder. "She used the last of her energy to bring you back. She said- oh god, she said there was a chance you wouldn't m-make it. That you w-would be taken to the afterlife!"

The couple broke apart, staring at each other for what seemed like forever, mourning their dead ally who had given her life from the cause. They were safe because of her. They were going to be able to live out the rest of their lives together, and it was all because of Apsara.

"We need to get out of here," Ron said to her, breaking the silence. "I- I think I might be an uncle by now." It seemed like a lifetime ago that they had been in the hospital with Ginny, but it was crashing back on him now. His family needed him. His sister needed him.

The couple rose to their feet just as a shout rung out from somewhere nearby – it was hard to determine where. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and someone was spluttering. Carefully, Ron clutched onto Hermione's hand, passing through the only door in the room. Dark corridors, similar to the others, awaited them as they exited. It was only then that Ron had considered he had used the magic that Apsara had given him to get into the room. The magic that had left him when she did. His chest tightened with anxiety.

There was only one direction to follow, so Ron led Hermione, peering round the corners as he turned. He was taken aback at his second turn, when he almost tripped over a body – a pale, long haired figure, sprawled out before them. Lucius Malfoy. They could hear another splutter, and the couple turned in its direction, and Ron could almost feel the blood drain from his face. There, holding himself together against the wall of the passageway, was Draco Malfoy – choking on his own blood.

"Malfoy!" Ron roared, running to his side. "Malfoy... fuck, what happened?"

Hermione hesitated, then ran to Ron's side, her palm resting on the small of his back, rubbing soft circles in it.

"I... my father, he knew... he knew we were working together all along. He tried to use me. Tried... tried to get me t-to... kill you. T-to prove my loyalty," Draco huffed, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "I told him to go fuck himself – I'm not his puppet anymore."

"We... we need to get you to St Mungos. Quick, Hermione, help me move him!"

But Hermione didn't move to help him. Instead, her expression fell into a look of regret.

"Weasley, I- I'm dying. Just g-get yourselves out of here. I-" Malfoy choked, patting his ally on the shoulder. "You d-did well." He grinned at Ron, spluttering as Ron gripped onto him as though he could drag the life back into him with his bare hands. It couldn't end like this. Not after _everything_ that Malfoy had done for him – for _them._

His body gave a jerk, as he met Ron's eyes once more, his breath growing ever shorter by the second. Ron gave a silent nod, bowing his head. It was evident that he could no longer speak. Instead, they seemed to communicate silently through their eyes. It wasn't the same as being able to communicate with Draco inside his head like he could before he was captured, but he had hoped Draco could at least read the apologetic look Ron was sending his way, his lips curved into a frown and his forehead wrinkled, eyebrows drawn in.

Draco met his eyes back, no blame to be found in them. Then, as though he had always been that way, Draco Malfoy's body stilled after one last shudder, now suddenly void of life.

"N _O_!" Ron roared, raising from the ground and punching his fist into the hard, cold stone wall with a _crunch_.

Hermione was whimpering, still perched beside Draco, her right hand reaching over to close the man's eyes as though he were sleeping. "I... I'm sorry, Draco." She whispered.

**Hermione**

It was all a blur after that. One moment, they were gripping onto Draco's dead body, and before they knew it they were flying away on Ron's broomstick, rising from Dirkshire into the dark night sky. They had moved through the church basement for two hours or so before they found the exit, a set of steep stairs that had led them to trap door just beyond the town walls.

Ron shuddered behind her, as Hermione gripped on tightly to the broom, too focused to even remember her fear of flying. Ron was holding onto her with one arm, the other gripping onto the still form of Draco Malfoy, barely even managing to hold himself together. She was still in shock. They hadn't said a word to one another after Draco. It wasn't uncomfortable. The silence was companionable. The fact that they were both safe, drifting through the night air across the country side, a fallen ally held between them had long settled in, and there wasn't much to be said. There was nothing that could make this right.

All she knew was that they would get through it. They would heal with time.

* * *

**One Year Later...**

****Ron** **

It had been a long night. Hermione curled around Ron, circling her finger on his chest absently, her eyes unfocused.

Ron knew he had been uncharacteristically silent. He knew that Hermione knew why.

It had been a year. One whole year since that bittersweet night. He could still remember the panic he felt when he had almost lost Hermione. He could still remember the releif as Apsara healed her, at the cost of her own life. The sadness he felt when she left him. He could remember, too, the worst part of the night – the fall of Draco Malfoy, and how he had been so overcome with raw emotion that he was barely functioning by the time he and Hermione had reached St Mungos.

The memory of his mother holding him as he recounted the events of the night after she had brashly demanded where they had been – why her patronus couldn't reach them, and why he was absent from the birth of his nephew.

James Sirius had been born in the early hours of the morning. Ron hadn't even realised they had been gone for almost 24 hours. It had gone by in a flash, and even at the time it had seemed as though the memories were distant. He remembered the blankness he felt as he sat in the waiting room, awaiting a nurse to tell him it was okay to go into the ward.

Most of all, though, Ron could remember how he felt the first time he held his nephew in his arms, Hermione holding onto his arm gently at the side, smiling down at the baby despite the horrors of the night. He felt lighter somehow. He felt like they could do this. And maybe one day, it would be _their_ child he held in his arms.

It _was_ what prompted him to ask Hermione to elope with him the very next day, after all. He couldn't find it in him to regret the decision. They had waited far too long. They already belonged to one another completely – there was no point in holding it off any longer, was there?

A few weeks later, they had given Draco a hero's funeral. It was a small affair – the Weasley family circled around the small gravestone, engraved with the words " _Friend, ally and protector of humankind. A brave man._ " alongside his name and date of birth, followed by his date of passing.

Returning to work at the Ministry had been easier than expected. With Hornrock gone, and the story widespread by that point, Ron had earned a promotion, and Hermione transferred to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, where she has already set a few laws in motion regarding the treatment of magical creatures, House Elves included. Fond memories of S.P.E.W and the dedication Ron had always admired in his wife often manifested themselves as she met him after work, detailing the events of her day as Ron recounted cases that he was working on, and complained about having constant questions thrown at him throughout the day. They both knew, though, that he secretly enjoyed being in charge.

The healing had been the difficult part, but they were finally getting there. Hermione shuffled beside her husband, tracing light kisses on his bare shoulder. Ron ran his right hand up her bare back gently, placing a soft kiss into her hair. Tracing his fingers back down her hipbone and smoothing over her stomach with his palm, Ron grinned. She was getting bigger by the day. Not long to go now before their already rather monumental family valued by one more member. He really ought to finish painting the nursery.

~

**_fin_ **

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted on fanfiction.net as a multi-chaptered work, but it's much easier to post as a oneshot, and my chapter lengths are a bit all over the place anyway. So here you are! Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!


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